Fang's Bites

The 5th Annual Fang’s Bites NFL TV Awards

Time to hand out the 5th edition of the Fang’s Bites NFL TV Awards. On Christmas Day, I provided the list of nominees for this year’s edition. Now, with the regular season over, let’s hand out the hardware for the 2011-12 campaign.

Best Play-by-Play: The Nominees are Marv Albert, CBS; Ian Eagle, CBS; Al Michaels, NBC; Brad Nessler, NFL Network; Sam Rosen, Fox; and Mike Tirico, ESPN. The winner is Marv Albert, CBS. After leaving Westwood One Radio in 2010, Marv returned to the NFL almost a year later to the day and made it a triumphant one. Teamed with Rich Gannon, Marv joined an already deep bench at CBS Sports and made its corps even better. Usually assigned to the 4th best game of the day, Marv can make it sound exciting. Already one of the best ever broadcasters in basketball, Marv has shown that he still has it in football as well. Here’s hoping Marv gets some better games next season.

Best Game Analyst: The Nominees are Brian Billick, Fox; Cris Collinsworth, NBC; Dan Fouts, CBS; Mike Mayock, NFL Network; and Phil Simms, CBS. And the winner is Mike Mayock, NFL Network. He won Best Game Analyst in the 2010 College Football TV Awards and now, becomes the first person to win the award in the same category for two different awards. Mayock should have been appointed as the Thursday Night Football analyst after Cris Collinsworth left, but NFL Network went in a bad direction for the previous two seasons. Mike spots trends, is able to first guess rather than second guess and makes what had been a total train wreck in 2009 & 2010, a totally enjoyable listen.

Best Sunday Morning Pre-Game Show: The Nominees are Fox NFL Sunday, Fox; NFL GameDay Morning, NFL Network; and The NFL Today, CBS. This year’s winner is The NFL Today on CBS. Hosted by the great James Brown, the NFL Today may be ratings-challenged in comparison to Fox NFL Sunday, but it’s not due to the quality of the show. Yes, there are silly gimmicks like promotional crossovers for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show or the horrible Halloween abortion fronted by Kris Jenkins, but when the show goes into football with Bill Cowher or breaking down quarterback play with Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason, or having Charley Casserley discuss league issues, it’s very good. And it’s why I’ll name The NFL Today as Best Sunday Morning Pre-Game Show.

Best Studio Show, Daily or Weekly: Our nominees in this category are Inside the NFL, Showtime; NFL Live, ESPN; NFL Matchup, ESPN; NFL Total Access, NFL Network; and Playbook, NFL Network. The deserving winner is NFL Matchup, ESPN. This show was in danger of falling by the wayside after the 2009 season, but after getting a sponsor and ownership of the show squared away, the show returned to ESPN’s Sunday morning lineup and fans were the better for it. With Sal Paolantonio hosting and Ron Jaworski and Merril Hoge, the show breaks down plays and film like no other.

Best Highlights: The Nominees are NFL GameDay Final, NFL Network; NFL Primetime, ESPN; and SportsCenter 7:30 p.m. Sunday, ESPN. And our winner here is NFL GameDay Final on NFL Network. While the NFL TV partners have to buy access to highlights for a price, NFL Network doesn’t have that problem. It can take what it wants and run clips for however long it desires. NFL GameDay Final’s highlights are a reflection of that. The show has suffered since Rich Eisen left, but the highlights are still the same and game segments can run as long as 4 minutes. If you haven’t watched a game, the best way to find what happened is to watch NFL GameDay Final. One of the best wrap up shows around.

Best Studio Host: The nominees are James Brown, CBS/Showtime; Curt Menefee, Fox; Dan Patrick, NBC; and Andrew Siciliano, DirecTV. Our winner is Dan Patrick, NBC. Dan has been the studio host of NBC’s Football Night in America since 2008. He’s gone from sharing the highlights with his former ESPN co-hort Keith Olbermann to now doing them all himself and he does them very smoothly. In addition, he had to break in two analysts who had little to no experience in TV and has helped guide Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison into two very strongly opinionated personalities. Dan will have a role on NBC’s Olympic coverage this year and based on his performance on Football Night in America over the last few years, he should do very well.

Best Studio Analyst: The nominees are Bill Cowher, CBS; Tony Dungy, NBC; Marshall Faulk, NFL Network; Howie Long, Fox; Steve Mariucci, NFL Network; and Michael Strahan, Fox. And completing the NBC perfecta, we go with Tony Dungy, NBC. Tony doesn’t yell, he doesn’t pound the table and he doesn’t dress outlandishly. All Tony does is give you opinions, provide excellent breakdowns and can show a little humor too. He’s grown to be one of the better studio analysts on TV without having to resort to gimmicks. His weekly appearances on the Dan Patrick Show are also quite enjoyable. Tony Dungy deserves the award this year.

Most Valuable Network: Our nominees for this category are Fox, NBC, and NFL Network. And the winner of the MVN for the 2011-12 season is NFL Network. For greatly improving its Thursday Night Football presentation both in the booth and in its production, plus seeing its best ratings ever for the package, we give the award to NFL Network. The higher ratings had everything to do with the wider distribution for the network, however, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable still remain holdouts. But without the two providers, NFL Network saw its best numbers ever for Thursday Night Football. NFL Network is the surprise winner this year.

Best NFL Insider: The nominees are John Clayton, ESPN; Mike Florio, NBC, Jay Glazer, Fox, Jason La Canfora, NFL Network; and Adam Schefter, ESPN. I’ll go with Adam Schefter of ESPN. While all of the insiders can each claim victories of breaking stories over one another, the one who seems to have been consistent all season has been Adam Schefter. I wanted to go with John Clayton and his ponytail, but I’ll give this to Schefter.

Best Announcing Team: The nominees are Marv Albert/Rich Gannon, CBS; Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts, CBS; Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth, NBC; Jim Nantz/Phil Simms, CBS; Brad Nessler/Mike Mayock, NFL Network; and Sam Rosen/Brian Billick, Fox. And the winner of this award are “The Bird” and “The Beard”, Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts of CBS. They’ve worked together for two seasons and sound as if they’ve been doing it for six. They have great chemistry, good humor and know their roles. They rarely step on each other and make each game quite enjoyable. Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts of CBS are your winners of Best Announcing Team for this season.

Most Improved Presentation: Just two nominees for this category and they are Inside the NFL, Showtime and Thursday Night Football, NFL Network. The winner is Thursday Night Football, NFL Network. This has gone from being one of the worst produced and worst called packages to one of the best. After NFL Network jettisoned Matt Millen and Joe Theismann, Mike Mayock was brought in to replace them. And while Bob Papa was unfairly shown the door, Brad Nessler came in and clicked immediately with Mayock. And the problems that had plagued TNF in the past, late replays, garbled audio and all around bad production have gone as well. Replays are sharp, the picture seems much better than in the past and overall, the games have been quite enjoyable to watch. Thursday Night Football wins the award this season.

Best Game Coverage: The nominees are Monday Night Football, ESPN; NFL on Fox, Fox; Sunday Night Football, NBC; and Thursday Night Football, NFL Network. The winner is the NFL on Fox. Fox Sports’ announcers are a weak bunch, but their production people are among the best in sports. The HD quality is good, the replays are done well, I love when X-Mo is used to slow down a play to the point where I can see single blades of grass fly off the field. Fox does a great job on the NFL and the viewer is the beneficiary.

Rookie of the Year: The nominees are Jaime Maggio, Fox; Chad Pennington, Fox; and NFL Turning Point, Versus/NBC Sports Network. Our winner is Chad Pennington. I’ve been quite impressed with his work with Sam Rosen. Chad majored in Communications at Marshall knowing that he wanted to be in TV after his football career. Deciding to sit this season out to heal injuries, Pennington threw himself into TV with the same dedication of his playing days. He’s come off as well-spoken, well-informed and is becoming a very good analyst.

Best Debut: Only one nominee and I didn’t put this out originally. This goes to NFL Turning Point on Versus/NBC Sports Network. This show uses NFL Films footage plus takes advantage of wiring players for sound. What you have is a high quality show with lots of great football footage. This is not just a highlights show, this brings you inside the game, shows you the plays that turned a game around and explains how it happened. Very well produced by NFL Films.

Best Return to the NFL: Two nominees: Marv Albert, CBS and Melissa Stark, NFL Network. Nice to have both Marv and Melissa back, but Melissa’s return has been a part-time one. Marv’s is full-time so we’ll give this to Marv Albert of CBS Sports.

Best Move: The nominees are the Debut of NFL Turning Point, Versus; NFL Signing Long-Term TV Contracts with CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC; and Replacing Matt Millen and Joe Theismann with Mike Mayock, NFL Network. It has to be the NFL signing long-term TV contracts with all of its partners. The NFL gets about $5 billion per year starting in 2014. All of the networks keep their rights, divide three Super Bowls among CBS, Fox and NBC and ESPN gets into the postseason fray. Plus you’ll be able watch NFL games on your tablet soon. What’s better than that?

From the bests, we now move to the worsts.

Worst Play-by-Play: Our nominees are Thom Brennaman, Fox; Joe Buck, Fox; Bill Macatee, CBS; Ron Pitts, Fox; and Dick Stockton, Fox. This year’s award goes to Dick Stockton of Fox Sports. I hate giving this award to Dick as he’s had a great career calling MLB, NBA, NCAA, NFL and the Olympics, but the slippage over the last three years is too big to ignore. He’s miscalled plays, mixed up players and even forgot what city he’s in. Yes, it happens to everyone, but this is consistently occurring every week. He takes this award by a narrow margin over Thom Brennaman.

Worst Game Analyst: The nominees are Steve Beuerlein, CBS; Randy Cross, CBS; and Jim Mora, Jr., formerly of Fox. We go with Randy Cross. He’s only called a handful of games, but here’s a guy who was once the number two analyst at CBS and NBC, but he’s been exiled to the “F” or “G” games with Don Criqui. I honestly don’t know what he’s seeing on the field anymore.

Worst Studio Host: Your nominees are Chris Berman, ESPN and Stuart Scott, ESPN. And your runaway winner this season is Chris Berman. He used to be a must-see when ESPN started airing the NFL as host of Sunday NFL Countdown and NFL Primetime, but he’s now a mere caricature of himself. The “whoop!” or “He! Could! Go! All! The! Way!” or “Nobody circles the wagons … Like! The Buffalo Bills!” act is very tired. It’s time to bring Trey Wingo or Suzy Kolber or even Stuart Scott to the table to replace him. Chris should be put to pasture now.

Worst Studio Analyst: The nominees are Tedy Bruschi, ESPN; Cris Carter, ESPN; Michael Irvin, NFL Network; Eric Mangini, ESPN; and Shannon Sharpe, CBS. This is my Cleveland Browns bias showing but this goes to Eric Manmoron Mangini of ESPN. There are those who love the way Mangini breaks down plays on NFL Live and other ESPN studio shows, but I don’t see it. Perhaps I can separate my hatred for Mangini over his coaching of the Browns in 20 years, but right now, I can’t see him doing this for long.

Worst Studio Show: Your nominees are Monday Night Countdown, ESPN; NFL 32, ESPN; Sunday NFL Countdown, ESPN. This is a clean ESPN sweep in this category and we go with NFL 32. This is supposed to be a comprehensive look at all 32 NFL teams with highlights, tweets and snark thrown in. This is an abortion. I hope ESPN goes back to the drawing board and revamps this show. It needs it. The debut of the show looked as if it was thrown together at the last minute. The show hasn’t improved much since.

Worst Move: Original nominees were Bob Costas’ Halftime Commentary on Sunday Night Football, NBC; Removing Rich Eisen from NFL Total Access; and Putting Michael Irvin on Thursday Night Football Pregame, NFL Network. I add one more nominee, ESPN’s rotation of sideline reporters for Monday Night Football. And that is your winner. There was no consistency on the sideline for MNF. This year, it was either Suzy Kolber, Sal Paolantonio, Ed Werder, Rachel Nichols and then the strange cameo of John Sutcliffe (more on that later). While ESPN has de-emphasized the sideline reporter on the NFL coverage the last couple of seasons, it still needs a reporter in case of an injury or a development. It’s best if you have the same person every week. Suzy is good or if not, Sal Pal or even Rachel Nichols. Anyone. Just don’t rotate.

Worst Debut: John Sutcliffe, ESPN. A popular personality on ESPN Deportes and Monday Night Football sideline reporter on that network since 2006, the Mothership brought him over to make his English language debut for the Week 15 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers. The game was between two 10-3 teams and it so happened it was also the night that the lights went out at Candlestick Park. While that event could not be foreseen, it was obvious that being on the big stage for ESPN overwhelmed Sutcliffe. He was nervous, he came off unprepared and ESPN stopped using him after a shaky report just after halftime. ESPN PR people have told me that John is one of the most professional people at ESPN Deportes and I don’t doubt that. But that was the wrong game to make his debut.

And that concludes this year’s NFL TV Awards.

Providing The Friday Megalinks

Let’s get to the megalinks today. Lots to get to including some interesting news that is breaking today.

First, the Weekend Viewing Picks are back after a week’s absence. Check out what sports and entertainment viewing recommendations I’ve made.

Now to the links.

National

Developing today is a story out of Boston that CBC and NBC NHL analyst Mike Milbury allegedly assaulted a 12 year old boy during a youth hockey game last week. WCVB in Boston has broken the story and we’ll what develops. Milbury has been charged by police, but still worked on Versus this week.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says expect more reality TV like HBO’s 24/7 in sports.

Jen Floyd Engel from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes for Fox Sports that Craig James’ US Senate run should be music to college football fans who have had to endure his analysis on ESPN.

In a related note, Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid notes that James is taking leave from ESPN due to his run.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says the NFL, the TV networks and the fans are all winners in the latest 9 year rights deal.

Richard says as he becomes more popular, it’s only natural to see more media coverage of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Pac-12 Networks about to take operation next year, has secured headquarters in San Francisco.

John Eggerton of B&C says the American Cable Association is sounding the alarm bell on the new NFL TV deals.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News writes that AT&T U-Verse customers in Connecticut will see MSG Network and its companion networks in HD starting in January just after Verizon Fios picked them up as well.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writing in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center looks at some of the negatives of the new NFL TV deals.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell tells us to prepare for DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket in cars. Yes, cars.

Leave it to Deadspin. Tommy Craggs has video of a young Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports appearing in an edition of HBO’s Real Sex from the 1990′s. Hilarious.

Matt Yoder from Awful Announcing breaks down the new NFL TV deals.

In the wee hours of this morning, I wrote some thoughts on the NFL TV deals and HBO’s 24/7 season premiere among other things.

Sports Media Watch says new NBA on TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal will not join Turner Sports’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament in March.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore wonders what’s up with a new program listing for NHL Network.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe feels five NBA games on Christmas Day are too many.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times mulls over the numbers in the new NFL TV deals.

Richard reviews the upcoming Army-Navy documentary produced by CBS Sports/Showtime.

George Vescey has written his last “Sports of the Times” column for the New York Times.

Newsday’s Neil Best says New Yorkers will not see New England-Denver on CBS this Sunday.

Neil notes that TNT’s Charles Barkley now endorses Weight Watchers.

Neil looks at Jeff Van Gundy’s frequent flyer mileage as he works two NBA games on Christmas Day.

New York Post curmudgeon Phil Mushnick says NFL TV analysts give Tim Tebow way too much credit.

Justin Terranova of the Post has ESPN/ABC announcer Sean McDonough complaining about too many bowl games.

Terranova has five questions for NFL Today analyst Shannon Sharpe.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at one local radio station’s move to dump the New York Mets in favor of the Boston Red Sox.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette likes the new edition of HBO’s 24/7 Flyers/Rangers.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says there’s nothing like the NFL as a ratings draw.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com has the latest sports media news from the Baltimore-Washington, DC area.

At the DC Sports Bog, the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg notes that John Riggins has ended his daily sports talk show in favor of a new outdoors career.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says the Nationals could see a hefty increase in their rights fee from MASN.

South

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times talks with NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock who will call Saturday’s Dallas-Tampa Bay game with Brad Nessler.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle has some quotes from Fox NFL Sunday analyst Jimmy Johnson.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has quotes from TNT’s Charles Barkley on the two Los Angeles NBA teams.

Mel has TNT’s NBA analysts discussing the Oklahoma City Thunder’s chances this season.

Mel notes that ESPN/ABC’s Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy will be quite busy on Christmas Day.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer looks into the sudden quitting of one local sports talk show host this week.

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with Fox Sports Detroit NBA analyst Greg Kelser about the Pistons.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that CBS’ Dan Dierdorf gets to call a rare “home” game on Sunday.

West

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Chargers have avoided a blackout for Sunday night’s game against the Ravens.

John Maffei of the North County Times says Louisiana Tech is happy to finally to have some exposure on the ESPN mothership after being relegated to ESPNU 9 times this season.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes that the Los Angeles Clippers are no longer a media laughingstock.

Jim looks into the new NFL TV deals.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with former DC NFL team QB Mark Rypien and his daughter Angela, who’s now one in the Lingerie Football League.

Tom talks with TNT’s Charles Barkley.

Tom has a few more hits that didn’t make his Barkley column.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail reviews the season premiere of HBO’s 24/7.

And that’s going to do it.

Some Monday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

While I’m away from a computer this morning, I provide these thoughts to you so you have some fresh material here. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving weekend.

As usual, I’ll go in bullet form.

• We’re three games into NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football schedule and the duo of Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock have already made my list of favorite announcing teams. After five years of juggling announcers, NFL Network may have finally found some stability in the broadcast booth. And the problems that plagued its production: missed replays, coming out of replays late and graphics that made no sense seemed to have disappeared. If NFL Network gets an expanded schedule next season, I look forward to hearing Nessler and Mayock on more games.
• With the NBA Lockout seemingly settled, the big beneficiary would be ESPN/ABC as the league’s new Opening Day would be Christmas, December 25. The networks would divide three games on that day. Also, TNT which has desperately missed the NBA on Thursday nights will be happy to have doubleheaders again. While I’m not an NBA watcher, I could get behind a 66 game schedule and a Christmas Opening Day every year. This is something the NBA should seriously consider, but it won’t.
• With the college football conference championship games coming up this weekend, I’ll be interested to see how Fox handles the Pac-12 and Big Ten Championships on successive nights with the same announcing crew of Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster. While Fox’s last foray into college football with the BCS was next to disastrous, at least this trio has worked an entire season on FX. I feel Fox should have assigned two crews, but I know the network wants to gain as much mileage from having Gus call both games. Still, flying from Eugene, OR to Indianapolis overnight is not going to be much fun.
• As NESN is considering candidates to replace Heidi Watney as its Red Sox field reporter, I can tell you that an early favorite, Molly Sullivan, sideline reporter for the mtn., is no longer in the running. I’ve heard NESN felt she wasn’t right for the job. Plus Molly said on Twitter that she’s comfortable with her current gig and staying in Las Vegas where she currently lives.
• I hear NESN is considering Jen Royle of 105.7 FM in Baltimore. Good article on her Sunday by Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun-Chronicle. Jen was back in New England to do another guest stint on WEEI. Once again, she killed co-hosting with Kirk Minehane. I don’t know if Jen is a top candidate on NESN, but as I’ve said in the past, she should be.

  Another person NESN should consider if it already hasn’t is Courtney Fallon of WLNE in Providence. Just on the job for three months, Courtney has already made an impression here. She would be good on NESN. And if it doesn’t want to hire her for the Red Sox reporter’s job, the network should at least consider her for its NESN Daily show.

• I’ve seen just a few episodes, but Brian Kenny seems to have found a signature show in Clubhouse Confidential on MLB Network. Now if only Brian could find that boxing gig to go with his baseball assignments.
• Speaking of MLB Network, I miss Trenni Kusnierek. I know she’s happy co-hosting a sports show on WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee.

And we’re done. Enjoy your Monday

Thursday Night Football Premieres This …. Thursday!

Yes, Thursday Night Football’s sixth season kicks off on NFL Network this week with another 8 game schedule. It begins with a tasty AFC West matchup between old American Football League rivals Oakland and San Diego at the Stadium Formerly Known as Jack Murphy. In addition, it marks the debut of the new Thursday Night Football announcing team of Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock. Alex Flanagan returns to roam the sidelines.

Rich Eisen is back as the host of Thursday Night Kickoff pregame, Pre-Kick, halftime and postgame shows from the game sites. He’ll be joined by an expanded cast of analysts as well as a studio presence from Los Angeles hosted by Kara Henderson.

We have the particulars of the game that will be aired this Thursday on NFL Network.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011 — 8:00 PM ET
OAKLAND RAIDERS AT SAN DIEGO CHARGERS ON NFL NETWORK

Mike Mayock and Brad Nessler Make Thursday Night Football Debut
Deion Sanders Sit Down Interview with San Diego Quarterback Philip Rivers on Thursday Night Football Kickoff Pregame Show at 6:00 PM ET
Michael Irvin joins Thursday Night Football Pregame, Halftime and Postgame On-Location Team

MIKE MAYOCK’S KEY MATCHUP:

“What intrigues me the most is the matchup between the two quarterbacks.

I was at the Denver-Oakland game on Sunday. As the game went on, Carson Palmer got more comfortable. You could see him drive the football. I am intrigued to watch him develop. The Raiders have staked an awful lot of their future on Carson Palmer being a very good quarterback. As the game went on, I liked what I saw.

As far as San Diego, I have watched a lot of tape on Philip Rivers and their offense. I felt that they have been a half-beat off most of the year [before watching Green Bay tape]. The turnovers have been the killer for San Diego so far this year.

As we roll into this huge AFC West matchup on Thursday Night Football, it’s the quarterbacks in this division that ultimately will determine the winner. We have three teams at 4-4.  I just can’t wait to watch Carson Palmer to see if he can get back to where he was 4-5 years ago and Philip Rivers to see if he can get back to where he was last year.”

–   Thursday Night Football game analyst MIKE MAYOCK

PREGAME SHOW 1-ON-1 INTERVIEW:

• DEION SANDERS sits down for an interview with San Diego quarterback PHILIP RIVERS during Thursday Night Football Kickoff at 6:00 PM ET.

TEAMS:	RAIDERS (4-4)	CHARGERS (4-4)
ANNOUNCERS	Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Mike Mayock (game analyst); Alex Flanagan (sideline)
PREGAME (6:00 PM ET)	Thursday Night Kickoff In San Diego: Rich Eisen, Marshall Faulk, Michael Irvin, Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders, Stacey Dales, Alex Flanagan In Los Angeles: Kara Henderson, Kurt Warner, Sterling Sharpe, Jay Glazer
PRE-KICK (8:00 PM ET)	Pre-Kick Show Brad Nessler, Mike Mayock, Alex Flanagan, Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, Kurt Warner, Sterling Sharpe, Jay Glazer, Stacey Dales
HALFTIME	Halftime Show Rich Eisen, Marshall Faulk, Michael Irvin, Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders, Stacey Dales, Alex Flanagan
POSTGAME	Postgame Show Rich Eisen, Marshall Faulk, Michael Irvin, Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders, Stacey Dales, Alex Flanagan NFL Total Access Postgame Show In-studio: Andrew Siciliano, Kara Henderson, Jamie Dukes, Willie McGinest, Kurt Warner Game Site: Stacey Dales, Steve Wyche
WHERE TO WATCH	DirecTV – Channel 212 (SD/HD), DISH Network – 154 (SD/HD) Verizon FIOS – Channel 88 (SD) 588 (HD), AT&T U-Verse – Channel 630 (SD) 1630 (HD)Check your local cable listingsNFL.com LIVE – live “look-ins” at select moments of game NFL Mobile Live on Verizon Wireless
LOCAL OTA SIMULCAST*	CBS Channel 5 (KPIX)	FOX Channel 5 (KSWB)

Thursday Night Football

NFL Network begins its sixth year airing the Thursday Night Football primetime package. Presenting eight games in the key stretch of the 2011 season as teams fight for playoff berths and seeding.

In the 2011 debut of Thursday Night Football NFL Network travels to San Diego, CA where the Oakland Raiders (4-4) travel south to take on the division rivals San Diego Chargers (4-4). Quarterbacks CARSON PALMER of the Raiders and PHILIP RIVERS of the Chargers meet for the fourth time as starting quarterbacks and have brought out the best in each other, combining for more than 1,900 yards, 16 touchdown passes and only four interceptions in the three previous matchups (Palmer with Cincinnati).

This season marks the debut of new Thursday Night Football broadcast booth duo, BRAD NESSLER and MIKE MAYOCK. Veteran play-by-play voice, Nessler will serve as the play-by-play announcer and Mayock, in his seventh year with NFL Network, will serve as the game analyst and Alex Flanagan returns for her second season as the sideline reporter.

RICH EISEN hosts NFL Network’s Thursday Night Kickoff, Pre-kick Show, Halftime Show and the Postgame Show from the stadium. Eisen, a two-time Sports Emmy nominee in the Studio Host category, is joined by fellow Sports Emmy nominee STEVE MARIUCCI, a former NFL head coach with the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions who also served as Brett Favre’s quarterback coach in Green Bay; 2011 NFL Hall of Fame inductee MARSHALL FAULK, who won a Super Bowl XXXIV ring with the Rams, earned 2000 NFL MVP honors and three Offensive Player of the Year awards (1999-2001); 2011 NFL Hall of Fame inductee DEION SANDERS, a two-time Super Bowl winner who was 1994 Defensive Player of the Year and an eight-time Pro Bowler who holds the NFL record with 19 career return touchdowns; and making his Thursday Night Football debut, Hall of Famer and third-year NFL Network analyst MICHAEL IRVIN.

Additional coverage will be provided from NFL Network studios in Los Angeles with host KARA HENDERSON and analysts KURT WARNER, two-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP quarterback; STERLING SHARPE, five-time Pro Bowl selection; and JAY GLAZER, NFL insider and senior writer for FOXSports.com.

NFL.com LIVE/Thursday Night Football at 8:00 PM ET features live “look-ins” of Raiders-Chargers, game highlights and instant analysis from NFL Network talent. From the NFL Network studios in Los Angeles, PAUL BURMEISTER, KURT WARNER, JAMIE DUKES, and BUCKY BROOKS provide expert analysis, commentary and fantasy information. STACEY DALES and STEVE WYCHE provide live reports from the stadium, while Brooks contributes ‘Instant Playbook’ analysis of key plays and drives from the exclusive perspective of the coaching tape immediately after the most important moments.

Following the game, hosts Henderson and ANDREW SICILIANO are joined by analysts WILLIE MCGINEST, Warner and Dukes on a postgame edition of NFL Total Access.

That will do it.

Brad Nessler & Trent Dilfer To Call 2nd Part of Season Opening MNF Doubleheader

I thought this pair would be tapped by ESPN to call the 2nd game of the Monday Night Football doubleheader this season as they worked Chargers-Chiefs last year. And Nessler’s performance last year most likely led to NFL Network tapping him to work Thursday Night Football this season. So Nessler will work a total of 9 NFL games this season if you count the MNF season opener along with the 8 games he’ll work with Mike Mayock on NFL Network. Nessler and Dilfer will call the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos game that is slated to start at 10:15 p.m. ET on September 12 and will close out Week 1 of the 2011-12 season.

In addition, ESPN is announcing the hiring of Josina Anderson as its Chicago-based reporter. She comes from KDVR in Denver where she apparently was full of reporting scoops for her station.

We have the announcement right here.

Brad Nessler and Trent Dilfer to Call Raiders-Broncos on ESPN’s Monday Night Football

Second Game of Season-Opening Doubleheader at 10:15 p.m. ET on Sept. 12

ESPN play-by-play voice Brad Nessler and NFL studio analyst Trent Dilfer will call the Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos, the second game of ESPN’s season-opening Monday Night Football doubleheader on September 12 at 10:15 p.m. ET (8:15 p.m. MT).  Both commentators also worked together a year ago to call the Chargers-Chiefs season-opener.

Nessler is making his third appearance in the MNF booth. During the first year of ESPN’s season-opening doubleheader (2006), he worked alongside Jaworski and former NFL head coach Dick Vermeil – a pairing that earned much praise from viewers – to call the Chargers-Raiders. He has served as a play-by-play commentator for college football and basketball since joining ESPN and ABC in 1992. This fall, Nessler will team with Todd Blackledge to form one of ESPN’s top college football commentator teams.  He is also entering his first season as the lead play-by-play voice for NFL Network’s eight-game late season package.

The season-opening game will be Dilfer’s second MNF appearance. The Super Bowl-winning quarterback is a studio analyst for a variety of ESPN programs — NFL Live, NFL PrimeTime, SportsCenter, and Audibles. Following his appearance in the MNF booth, Dilfer will appear on Monday Night Countdown each week this season from the site of the MNF game where he will provide analysis alongside fellow analyst Steve Young and Stuart Scott.

Senior coordinating producer Tim Corrigan, ESPN’s lead NBA producer who has overseen ESPN’s season-opening MNF doubleheader game the past five seasons, and director Mike Schwab, will oversee production of the Oakland-Denver matchup.  The MNF reporter will be named at a later date.  The Raiders-Broncos  will follow the New England Patriots-Miami Dolphins telecast (7 p.m.) when the MNF commentator team of Mike Tirico and analysts Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski makes its regular season debut.

Other ESPN NFL programming and production updates …

Josina Anderson joins ESPN as Chicago-based bureau reporter

Josina Anderson is joining ESPN as a Chicago-based bureau reporter where she will cover the NFL, NBA and other sports. Anderson previously worked as sports weekend co-anchor/reporter/producer for FOX 31 in Denver where she produced the nightly sportscasts and covered the Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche, and Rockies. In addition to breaking a number of major stories, Anderson earned a 2009 Heartland Emmy award for “A Premonition from Addis Ababa,” a story about an Arena Football League quarterback’s voyage to Ethiopia to adopt a son. At ESPN, Anderson will regularly appear from game sites on Sunday NFL Countdown in addition to reporting on SportsCenter and other news and information programs. Anderson started her career at the CBS affiliate in Coos Bay, Oregon, as a sports anchor/reporter, and she also worked in Washington D.C., on local sports cable shows. A former University of North Carolina track and field athlete, Anderson is also an accomplished classical ballet soloist.

SportsCenter Fantasy Draft Special on Thursday at 7 p.m.

ESPN will televise its fifth annual SportsCenter Fantasy Draft Special on Thursday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m.  The program will feature analysis and debate from a number of ESPN analysts and experts, including Matthew Berry, Tim Hasselbeck and ESPN.com sports injury expert Stephania Bell.  SportsCenter’s Robert Flores will host.  Other highlights include:  a look at overall fantasy draft strategy, ranking players by position, a review of the impact of injury when drafting a player, sleeper picks and rookie impact, and mock draft analysis.

MNF Preseason: Chicago Bears at New York Giants Monday at 8 p.m.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football preseason schedule continues Monday, Aug. 22, with Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears visiting Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analysts Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski will call the game at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN with sideline reporter Suzy Kolber.  The game will also be available via espnnetworks.com and the WatchESPN App.

The Bears-Giants game will be preceded by a one-hour Monday Night Countdown with host Chris Berman, Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter in studio.

One more NFL-centric press release coming up.

Highlights of Thursday Night Football Announcing Conference Call

After it was announced that Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock would the new Thursday Night Football announcing team starting this season, NFL Network held a conference call with the two men and Mark Quenzel, the Senior Vice President of Programming and Production. We have a transcript for you can you can start reading now.

An interview with:

MARK QUENZEL
BRAD NESSLER
MIKE MAYOCK

BRENNA WEBB: Thank you for joining us this morning on NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football conference call.  We sent out a release earlier this morning regarding our new booth team.  If you didn’t get that, please let me know.  Before we open it up to questions, I’d like to introduce NFL Networks senior vice president of programming and production, Mark Quenzel, to talk about our new announcing team for Thursday Night Football.

MARK QUENZEL: I’ll be brief because Brad and Mike are really the stars of the call.  All I’d say is obviously we’re thrilled to have Brad and Mike join us in the Thursday Night Football booth.  Thursday Night Football is one of the primetime NFL packages.  It’s a destination for football fans every Thursday.

I think it’s unique in the respect that it’s also the first game of the week, which factors a lot into what we say and how we say it beyond the game that’s in front of us.  But I think that Brad and Mike will bring an energy, in?depth knowledge and perspective to football fans.

I think it will be a very entertaining broadcast.  I’m looking forward to November 10th in San Diego for our first game.

Just a minute on Brad and on Mike.  Obviously, I’ve known Brad and I’ve worked with Brad for years and years at ESPN.  I think he is one of the premier play?by?play announcers in all of sports.  I’ve always been impressed with his work on multiple sports but certainly on football.

He knows the game.  He knows the NFL.  And I think it’s important that he has the unique ability, which I’ve seen many times, to bring viewers the important information that they need for the game that’s in front of them, to talk about that, while at the same time integrating sort of a global view of the season, of the league, where we are, what it all means.  I think for the first game of the week that’s a big deal.

Also one thing I’ve always been impressed with Brad is that as the stage becomes bigger and the moment becomes bigger, in those big moments, that’s when I think Brad has always been at his best.  I think you’ve seen it in National Championship games, college National Championship games, and a number of bowl games.

Brad has that ability to, I like to call it fourth gear.  He can put it in fourth gear, and I think that’s a big thing when you’re doing a primetime game.

For Mike, I’m not telling you anything you don’t know.  Mike really is a rising star in sports broadcasting. Just his incredible knowledge and the precise analysis were on display again last week during our coverage of the draft.

I’m excited.  I think Mike is unique in that he knows.  He breaks down.  He knows the players and the teams from the inside out.  He breaks them down.  Many analysts can tell you what happened.  Football fans and particularly fans of NFL Network really want to know why, and that’s Mike’s wheelhouse.  That’s where he excels.

I think he also does it in a way that is direct, candid, he doesn’t pull any punches, and I think our fans have shown that they respect that.

So I’ll sum it up by saying, as I started in the beginning, we’re excited.  We think that Thursday Night Football is a premier property, and we’ve got two premier guys doing it.

BRENNA WEBB: Right now I’ll turn it over to our new play?by?play voice, Brad Nessler.  Brad, why don’t you tell us what you’re looking forward to joining our new Thursday Night Football team?

BRAD NESSLER: I think excitement’s the keyword.  We’ve used it several times.  It was in the release and Mark talked about it.  And, Mark, I appreciate the kind words you had for me.

I think it’s not that often that at a certain stage in your career that something comes along that gives you that rush of excitement.  I love that feeling.

When Mark was talking about when games get big, things seem to get bigger and we can make them bigger than life at times.  Overall, all games are good, but some are a lot better than others.

I think there is a quality in some people that you can make an average game sound good, a good game sound great.  The great games take care of themselves.  You don’t have to have big moments.  The games just take care of it.

But that rush of excitement, I have that right now.  This is a new challenge for me.  I couldn’t be happier to be working with Mike.  We’ll be awful busy guys in November, both of us, I know that.

But Mike and I have known each other a long time and actually worked a few games together back in the day.  And I’m really looking forward to it because everybody uses the term “rising star” with Mike.  I think he’s always been a star, but it’s just that people are letting him do his thing now.

Not only is he obviously a great talent evaluator with all of that, with the draft and the X’s and O’s of the other shows he brings, but he’s worked with a friend of mine, Tom Hammond, not only on NFL games but on Notre Dame games, and I get a chance to watch those games before my night games on Saturday.  I know how good of a game analyst he is.

He adds a new partner to my list, and I’ve had some great ones over the years.  I expect him to be exactly like that.  I can’t wait to start working with him, and I can’t wait for the opening game.  We just have to get the games together and get the owners and players together, and get through the OTA’s and free agency and signing the draft choices in mini camps and training camps and then get on with it.

I expect that to happen, and I couldn’t be more excited about the new challenge that lies ahead for us.

BRENNA WEBB: Now, Mike, why don’t you tell us what you’re looking forward to.  You’ve already tackled Notre Dame football and our draft coverage with NFL Network.  Why don’t you tell us a little bit what you’re looking forward to your next step with Thursday Night Football games?

MIKE MAYOCK: Thanks, Brad.  It’s funny Brad said we worked together years ago.  It was probably 1993 somewhere around there.  If I remember his sideline reporter, Adrien Karsten had some kind of personal emergency, and I had to go in and do the sideline for he and Gary Danielson.  That’s how long a period of time.

I’ve had an unbelievable respect for the way Brad goes about his business.  I’m talking about before you can get to the game, the knowledge, the work ethic.  Then once the game starts, he’s phenomenal.  So I can’t wait to work with Brad Nessler.  I can’t wait to work with the whole team.

I tell you what, for me, it’s been kind of a surreal timeframe.  If you told me ten months ago that I’d be calling Notre Dame games on NBC, followed by an NFL playoff game on NBC, followed by the NFL Network offering me this NFL package, I don’t know.  I would probably inquire as to your hallucinogenic of choice and figuring that that stuff wasn’t going to happen for me.

I start with a really fundamental approach.  My belief is this:  Football’s the greatest game on the earth, especially on television.  And if you respect the game, I believe the viewer will appreciate the telecast.

I promise you Brad and I respect the game.  We’ll bring you a football telecast that answers all the questions you’re looking for.  I’m excited to become a part of the NFL Network Thursday night team.

When we get Oakland at San Diego on November 10th, I promise you Brad and I and the entire team will be ready to go.  Thank you.

BRENNA WEBB: Thanks Mike, Brad and Mark for your words.  Now we’ll open it up to questions.  Please identify who you’re directing your question to, and we’ll get this going.

Q.  Mark, I was wondering if you could briefly comment on who else was in the mix and why ultimately you went with Brad for this job?

MARK QUENZEL: We considered a number of people.  I don’t want to go candidly into a lot of detail as to who they were.  But the point is when you’re looking at a broadcast team, and the key is team, it’s a combination.  It’s two guys.

You have to make sure that they can each be individually talented.  You have to believe they’re compatible, they work together and they’ll make each other better.

Once we decided that Mike was really the guy that was the best for us on the analyst side, we looked around and it was clear to me that Brad, with all his experience and all the things I mentioned earlier, gave this team the best chance to succeed.

So I’m very excited.  I think they’ll be a great combination.  But I emphasize it really is about the combination.

Q.  Mike, we’ve got the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium this October. Our fifth international series game. What do you think about the growth of the NFL in the UK and also the players to look out for on the Bears and Bucs?

MIKE MAYOCK: I’m always amazed, and I probably shouldn’t be, that no matter where you go or who you talk to, they want to talk NFL football.  Obviously the commissioner and the NFL are interested in growing the game internationally.

I think what you’re going to see with Chicago and Tampa Bay, number one, is quarterback play at a very high level.  One of the guys I’ve been most impressed with is Josh Freeman.  Without Josh Freeman, this Tampa Bay team doesn’t go from where it was two years ago to a team with playoff credentials.  Even though they didn’t make it a year ago, they have playoff credentials.  It really comes down, I believe, to the quarterback position in the NFL.

This kid’s exciting.  He’s a star of the future.  You look at Chicago, and if I’m going to be honest about it, I didn’t think their offensive line was good enough to get them into the playoffs last year.  I didn’t think they could protect Jay Cutler.

And Jay Cutler is another one of those exciting young quarterbacks.  Sometimes he throws the ball more than he should.  But if they get that offensive line stabilized, and they drafted an offensive lineman in the first round this year in Dave Carimi, and if they get that stabilized, there is no telling how good this team can be.

So I think what you’ve got are two playoff quality teams with two emerging quarterbacks.  And I think the people will have a great time watching them play.

Q.  Mike, I wondered if there was any consideration for a three?man booth instead of a two.  I prefer two and you have done it different ways.  Then, Mike, how does preparing for a telecast, though you’ve done a great job with the preseason games, how is preparing for that kind of telecast different from doing playbook or path to the draft?  What do you have to do differently?

MARK QUENZEL: I’ll jump on the three?man booth question.  I’ve been involved in both situations, both here and at ESPN where they have a three?man booth as well.  I think it can work either way.

I think I prefer a two?man booth.  I think the dynamic we have between Brad and Mike lends itself to a two?man booth.  So I’ve seen them work both ways, but I prefer a two?man booth, and I think we’ve got an excellent two?man booth right now.

MIKE MAYOCK: The way I look at things is I love talking football.  It doesn’t matter if I’m at my table or down the street with buddies.  It doesn’t matter where we are.  And I love doing the studio shows, the playbooks and the path to the draft.

But for me there is nothing like doing a live game.  When you’re talking to the coaches and meeting with the coaches and players and watching the tape, you get there and you smell the grass and you get there three or four hours early.  It is the closest thing I can experience to when I played.

You’re getting pumped up and there is a build?up and a crescendo that comes to live games that is unlike anything else I’ve experienced other than playing in one of them.

So my favorite thing in broadcasting, and, Quenzel, I don’t want you to hear this, but my favorite thing, I can’t believe they pay me to do live games.  It’s mind boggling.

My father was a coach for 40 years and he calls me Jesse James without a gun.  He says you’re stealing, son, and he’s right.  That is the way I feel about it.

I’m blessed just to be able to talk about the game for a living.  But to do NFL games and Notre Dame games, are you kidding me?  It’s just unbelievable.

MARK QUENZEL: Mike, I’m glad I’m on the call.  I was just reading my notes that says we’re paying you.  I’ll have to find that out.

MIKE MAYOCK: I signed the contract.  That’s the only way I can say it.

MARK QUENZEL: Right (laughing).

Q.  About your opening game, Raiders and Chargers, it really seems like the AFC West has evolved in the last couple of years.  For so long it was the Chargers, and then three pretty wobbly teams.  Now you have the Chiefs making the playoffs and the Raiders running the table of the NFC West, Chargers are a little unpredictable.  Maybe they’re turning things around in Denver.  I wonder if you could speak to the rise, again, of the AFC West?

BRAD NESSLER: I’ll jump in because I did the Chargers and the Chiefs opener last year, which I remember before that game talking to Norv.  He said this is my best team.  I said can I quote you on that?  And he said, absolutely.

The problem has always been they get slow out of the gates.  And I don’t think on that rainy night at Arrowhead they were expecting to go home with a loss.  But that also set the table for Todd Haley and the Chiefs to have a much better year than a lot of people thought they were going to have.

It’s a new coaching system again for the Raiders.  But the Raiders have got to find a way to win outside the division.  If they he could have done that last year, they would have had a great season.

So you’re right.  Denver’s got to be a question mark.  They’ve got John Fox in there now and that will change their defensive scheme of things, I’m sure.

But, yeah, it’s wide open.  It’s not just the Chargers and the sisters of the poor anymore.  Anybody could win that if they could not only do as well as the Raiders did within the division, but go outside and win on the road and win outside their own division.

MIKE MAYOCK: I think that San Diego has got to come out of the gate quicker than they historically have.  One thing I’ll give you on San Diego, number one offense, number one defense, and horrible on special teams a year ago.  They went out and hired one of the guys that I consider to be one of the top special teams coaches that I’ve ever been around.  His name is Rich Bisaccia from Tampa Bay.

No matter how good or bad Tampa Bay was their special teams were always among the best.  So look for their special teams to finally be special.

Oakland and Kansas City, I loved watching them on tape last year because they both became really physical teams and they ran the football.  With Kansas City and Scott Pioli and what they’re doing and how they’re drafting, this is a physical team.  They’re going to throw the football better this year.

They drafted John Baldwin from Pitt who is a little bit of a diva.  But what wide receiver in the NFL isn’t?  He’s going to make plays because outside the numbers and in the red zone and in the end zone because of his height, weight and speed.

And I’m excited about Denver.  It’s a wide open decision like Brad said.  Denver’s going with the four?three.  They’ve got the best edge rusher in the draft in Von Miller.  They drafted heavily on the defensive side of the ball.

I think it’s really important for San Diego to get out of the gate quickly again this year, because you can’t just expect you’ll make playoffs by winning the last seven or eight in a row.

Q.  I hate to take a right turn with this, but I have to ask you a draft question.  Obviously the draft was different and there was no free agent activity at the end of the draft.  I wonder how that changed the 7th round, if at all, changed the dynamic of the 7th round?  And you might not have your draft in front of you.  But were there 7th rounders that stood out to you as a great value pick in that spot?

MIKE MAYOCK: I’ve heard a lot of talk about the 7th round being drafted differently.  I’m not sure I buy into it.  What you’re trying to get in the 7th round is you’re trying to control a guy that you think other teams may have value or interest in so you don’t have to go out and compete with them in the undrafted college free agency market.

So from my perspective I don’t really believe they looked at it a whole lot different.  It’s the same thing to me, control the guy.  And there are always seventh round guys.  Lee Ziemba was a four?year starter at tackle from Auburn.  Jeremy Beal was a starting defensive end from Denver.  I mean, you can go down the list and look at different guys that appeal to me for different reasons in every round.

And the most interesting thing is bottom line I saw more recruiting of late draftable kids than ever before.  It was almost like colleges recruiting high school kids.  They were burning up the phone lines talking to these kids, knowing they wouldn’t be able to once the 7th round ended.

So the last several months they’ve been recruiting these kids trying to get them to have the best possible feel for their opportunity so that whenever the CBA finally gets done, they’re hoping to be able to sign their college free agent of choice.

Q.  So stuff they typically do at the end of the draft when they make those recruiting calls and head coaches make those calls they were doing during the draft?

MIKE MAYOCK: They were doing it for the three months leading up.  They were actively recruiting kids and telling them how much they loved them and how much of an opportunity they would have and during the draft itself they were loving them up again.

So it’s a battle to get these kids.  And with the uncertainty of the CBA, it’s just kind of intensified this year.

Q.  What do you expect your schedule to be like with ESPN next fall?

BRAD NESSLER: It’s not going to change any.  It’s going to be very hectic for about a five?week stretch, basically.  And we knew that when we talked about all of this, and I talked about it with my bosses at now both networks or all three if you want to talk ESPN, ABC and NFL Network.

Obviously, there is going to be a point when I’m doing a game on Thursday night, I’m going to be missing my practice of the home team of the college game that I have to do.  Luckily there’s only going to be roughly about a four?week overlap because the first game is November 10th, and then the second one, and then Thanksgiving.  And I have a Thanksgiving all the time anyway, and then I have a game the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Then the following week is championship week in college football.  And I could be doing the ACC Championship.  I could be doing a west coast game, whatever.  So from that Thursday I’ll miss a day of practice too.

I have to give up a little on one end, but I guess my two middle names are going to be time management.

I know Mike’s going to have the same thing going on with Notre Dame for a couple of week stretch.  It will be very hectic.

Q.  Brad, as someone who has been in the business for a long time, I’m not sure the last time you had to do, for lack of a better word, a tryout.  So what was that like for you doing a practice game with Mike?  Were you nervous?  It’s obviously a big gig, but you’re probably someone who hasn’t had to do anything like this in a lock time.

MARK QUENZEL: Let me jump in there.  Brad did not do a tryout with Mike.  And the reason is, I said upfront, Brad and I worked together for so many years.  I know what Brad does, what he brings to the table and where the strengths are.  I think when we’re done doing a couple with Mike, it was as much to understand what would work with Mike as anything else.

So at that point I felt like I had enough information in my knowledge of Brad over the years allowed us to go in and say we know what’s going on, and we know what we’re looking for.  And Brad was the best thing for us.

Q.  That was Mark, correct?

MARK QUENZEL: This is Mark.

Q.  So Brad and Mike have not had any kind of practice run at this point.

MIKE MAYOCK: Not since 1993.

BRAD NESSLER: Richard, I will answer your question partially.  The last time I did what would be considered an audition game was 22 years ago.

Q.    I just wanted to follow up on Richard’s question for Brad.  Brad, with having two games in three days, have you ever had a challenge like that in preparation prior in your prior broadcasting career?

BRAD NESSLER: Yeah, I have.  In fact, it happened last year.  It was either Thanksgiving weekend or the first weekend in December.  I don’t ever want to do that again, and I pretty much told my bosses that we did Oregon?Oregon State on a Friday night and we did USC?Notre Dame on a Saturday night.  That was not an easy booth.

It can be done, but you don’t want to make a habit of it.  But at least having a day and a half in between is a lot different than literally doing two games in 21 hours or whatever it was.

MARK QUENZEL: I think the only thing I’d add to that is one of the things with the history of Brad and obviously from Mike, is they both could be classified as workaholics.  They study and study and study some more.  So I’m comfortable.

It was obviously one of the things that we talked about, and I know the ESPN guys talked about.  I think we were comfortable with Brad, as was ESPN in doing this, because we know that Brad will be prepared.  He’ll make sure he’s prepared.

Q.  Mike, I was wondering if you’d bear with me for a couple player questions.  You mentioned Josh Freeman, a guy that I’m writing about, is a rising star. Couple of other guys.  One, Eric Berry.  You mentioned how well the Chiefs have been drafting.  Can you just talk about Berry how good you think he could be, and also Brandon Pettigrew the tight end with the Lions.

MIKE MAYOCK: Sure, a thumbnail on each of them.  Freeman is a guy that when he came out of Kansas State, I saw him play his freshman year in a bowl game we had done at NFL Network.  I remember the first time I saw him in practice and I turned around and it was either Charles Davis or Paul Burmeister.  The first time I saw him throw the ball in practice I said, wow, that’s a first rounder right there.  If everything else checks out, that is who he is.

Then you meet the kid and he’s an articulate kid that cares about the game.  In today’s NFL at the quarterback position, if you don’t have football IQ and a work ethic, you don’t have a chance no matter how talented you are.

So he’s one of the bright young guys in the business.  He reminds me a lot of Joe Flacco.  The two of them together are dynamic, tall, big framed guys with the whole future in front of them of unbelievable football.

As far as Berry, when he came out I thought he and Earl Thomas were the two best safeties in the draft a couple years ago. Berry is a physical, tough kid that has the ability to play man or zone, which is an attractive skill set for safeties.

In today’s NFL, my belief is ?? everybody says you can’t have enough good corners. Well, I think you can’t have enough good defensive backs. Because if you have a safety that can play in the middle of the field, drop down on the slot, play in the box, that is something special.

The Chiefs have that in Berry, and they utilize him very well. He’s got another rookie they drafted in the fifth round out of Ole Miss. The same year they paired him with. Talking about an exciting young safety tandem, then Kansas City has it.

Finally, Pettigrew coming out of Oklahoma State, again, an excellent player. Won a bowl game we did at NFL Network. I did it with Sterling Sharpe. He’s an old school, in?line tight end.

He can block.  He’s not just a positional guy, a tough guy when he’s an in?line tight end.  He’s also gifted enough to split them out and run vertically.

Where he excels is intermediate and short stuff.  He can use that big body to post?up linebackers and safeties, another up and coming young star in the league.

BRENNA WEBB: Thank you, everyone, especially Mark, Brad and Mike for the call today.  Our season of Thursday Night Football begins Thursday November 10th with the Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers, the game at 8:00 Eastern.

That will do it. I have a few more releases to post. Bear with me.

Some Thursday Links

Ok starting the linkage off late again today, but I hope get a full set in before leaving work later.

Sports Business Daily notes some shuffling of personnel with the NFL TV partners.

Preston Bounds of Sports Business Daily talks about Brad Nessler saying his college football schedule with ESPN/ABC won’t be affected by his new gig with NFL Network.

Sports Business Daily discusses the machinations behind the ESPN-owned Longhorn Network.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today has some of the ratings from the weekend.

At Variety, Cynthia Littleton talks about ABC Studios developing a sitcom based on a book written by ESPN Radio morning drive co-host Mike Greenburg.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News notes that ESPN has been honored for its World Cup programming.

Anthony Crupi from Adweek says NBCUniversal’s networks are all over the promotion of the Kentucky Derby.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost notes that Time Warner saw additional ad revenues in the 1st quarter of this year thanks to the NCAA  Tournament.

Wayne says Fox is reporting good ad revenues from the NFL in its fiscal year 2nd quarter.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy has the video of a cameraman getting a little too close to the action before Game 3 of the Vancouver-Nashville game.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center notes that sports journalism is greatly lacking in diversity.

Kristi Dosh of the Business of College Sports has an excellent look at the TV contracts for all of the BCS conferences.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times notes that embattled Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is blaming MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig for his financial troubles. Way to help your cause, Frank.

Newsday’s Neil Best says former NFL Network play-by-play man Bob Papa is taking the high road.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that thoroughbred racing from Saratoga Race Course is heading back to national television after a year’s absence.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable will air some local high school baseball.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that Matt Millen had a feeling he was going to be blown out of the NFL Network booth.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner feels the big Pac-12 contracts with ESPN and Fox could lead the Big East to a huge windfall.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News says the Mavericks saw their biggest ratings in more than 2 years.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Pawtucket Red Sox and Cincinnati Bearcats voice Dan Hoard will become the voice of the Bengals this season.

John goes into some of the reasons why Brad Johansen will no longer be the voice of the Bengals.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Mike Mayock becoming the new analyst for NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business notes that WGN will have a special on Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

Paola Boivin from the Arizona Republic takes a look at the Pac-12 media rights agreements and what it means for member schools.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times writes about Brad Nessler coming in to call NFL Network Thursday Night Football.

SportsbyBrooks profiles the US Assistant Attorney General whose looking into the BCS.

Sports Media Watch notes that in Boston this week, the Bruins beat the Celtics in the ratings, but not head-to-head.

SMW says Lakers losses are leading to lofty ratings.

Steve Lepore, the hardest working blogger in the business, says NBC saw a double digit ratings jump last Sunday.

Steve also has the ratings for Night 21 of the NHL Playoffs.

Awful Announcing notes that announcers Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza understandably went a little goofy as the Angels-Red Sox game went form Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

Keggs ‘n Eggs notes the irony of Urban Meyer’s daughter complaining about him working for ESPN as he was supposed to spend retirement from Florida with his family.

I’ll end the links there. Finally finish these at 9:50 p.m. Thursday. Lots of things to do on the blog.

NFL Network Announcing Teams Since 2006

The upheaval in the NFL Network Thursday Night Football booth has been well documented. Now that Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock are officially the new announcing team, we look at the people NFL Network have assembled over the years. Let’s hope that this team can remain in place through the end of the current NFL TV contract.

2006 – Bryant Gumbel/Cris Collinsworth
2007 – Bryant Gumbel/Cris Collinsworth
2008 – Bob Papa/Cris Collinsworth
2009 – Bob Papa/Matt Millen
2010 – Bob Papa/Matt Millen/Joe Theismann/Alex Flanagan
2011 – Brad Nessler/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan (I’ll say Alex returns this year)

So you can see there has been hardly any consistency in the booth with changes coming practically every year but 2006-07. Here’s hoping that this year’s version of Thursday Night Football will work for NFL Network. I’m rooting for Brad and Mike.

It’s Official: NFL Network Confirms Brad Nessler & Mike Mayock Will Call Thursday Night Football

I sent an e-mail to NFL Network seeking confirmation of Richard Deitsch’s story in SI.com about Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock coming into the Thursday Night Football booth, but when you get a press release, you can’t get better confirmation than that. Also, the NFL posted the story at its website so this is a big deal.

As mentioned in my previous post, Brad will continue to call college football games on ESPN and ABC. Mike will continue as NFL Draft guru and panelist for various shows on NFL Network as well as be the analyst for Notre Dame Football on NBC.

Here’s the official press release from NFL Network and the National Football League.

NFL NETWORK NAMES MIKE MAYOCK AND BRAD NESSLER NEW ANNOUNCING TEAM FOR THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAMES

Highly regarded NFL analyst Mike Mayock will be joined by veteran television play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler in the booth on NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football games for the 2011 season, NFL Network Senior Vice President of Production and Programming Mark Quenzel announced today.

The new team of Mayock and Nessler will call NFL Network’s eight primetime games.  Mayock continues to serve as NFL Network’s top NFL Draft analyst while adding his X-and-Os expertise on additional shows for the network.  Nessler joins the Thursday Night Football booth while continuing to call primetime college football and basketball games on ESPN and ABC.

“Mike Mayock’s in-depth knowledge of all aspects of the game and his no-nonsense analytical style has made him a rising star in the business.  He is regarded by many as the best NFL Draft analyst in the business and he will be excellent on our NFL games,” said Quenzel.  “Brad Nessler is one of the premier play-by-play announcers on television. Teaming them on Thursday nights will be entertaining and informative for our fans.”

“My favorite aspect of this industry is to do live games. You are able to get up close to the coaches and players and the environment is electric, said Mayock.  “To have the opportunity to call NFL games in primetime on NFL Network is like a dream come true.”

“The NFL has always been a big part of my life and my career.  To join NFL Network and the great team they’ve assembled is an honor,” said Nessler. “Primetime football on Thursday nights is an event.  It’s an exciting new challenge and I can’t wait to be part of it all.”

Mike Mayock has been an analyst on NFL Network for the past seven years.  He has recently been called “incomparable” among NFL Draft television analysts.  In addition to the NFL Draft, Mayock provides analysis on NFL Total Access, Path to the Draft, Playbook and other NFL Network specials.  He is also the game analyst on NBC’s Notre Dame college football games on Saturdays and called the NFC Wild Card Playoff game for NBC last season.  Mayock has been NFL Network’s analyst on Senior Bowls in addition to Insight and Texas Bowl games.

A 10^th-round pick in the 1981 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mayock played for the New York Giants from 1982-83.  He is a member of the Boston College Hall of Fame, where he starred in football and baseball and received a communications degree.

Brad Nessler will continue to serve as a play-by-play voice for college football and basketball games on ESPN and ABC.  Last year he called one of the Monday Night Football games on the opening weekend of the NFL season for ESPN. Nessler also called a MNF game in 2006 and has been on ESPN since 1992.  Nessler previously called NFL games on radio for the Atlanta Falcons (1982-1988) and Minnesota Vikings (1988-89).

Nessler’s been calling major college football games for nearly 20 years. He is currently the voice of ESPN’s ‘Saturday Night Football’ game slate. He has called more than 50 college bowl games including the Bowl Championship Series title game in 2001 and 2005. Nessler also called the BCS Sugar Bowl game on January 1 that featured Ohio State’s win over Arkansas this year.

Bob Papa will continue to be a valuable member of NFL Network’s team.  He will continue to contribute reports on NFL Network’s Sunday NFL GameDay shows as well as have roles on additional NFL Network programming.  Joe Theismann will return to NFL Network’s Playbook and other specials.

NFL Network will begin its sixth season of eight primetime Thursday Night Football games on November 10 when the Oakland Raiders visit the San Diego Chargers.

NFL Network 2011 Thursday Night Football Schedule

Week 10: Thursday, November 10 at 8:00 PM ET
Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers

Week 11: Thursday, November 17 at 8:00 PM ET
New York Jets at Denver Broncos

Week 12: Thursday, November 24 at 8:00 PM ET
San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens (Thanksgiving)

Week 13: Thursday, December 1 at 8:00 PM ET
Philadelphia Eagles at Seattle Seahawks

Week 14: Thursday, December 8 at 8:00 PM ET
Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 15: Thursday, December 15 at 8:00 PM ET
Jacksonville Jaguars at Atlanta Falcons

Week 15: Saturday, December 17 at 8:00 PM ET
Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 16: Thursday, December 22 at 8:00 PM ET
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts

NFL Network has announced that Nessler and Mayock will be introduced to the media in a conference call later this morning. More coming up as soon as I get it.

BREAKING NEWS: Brad Nessler & Mike Mayock Are Your New Thursday Night Football Team

Well, this is certainly a surprise. The last we heard about the NFL Network Thursday Night Football team was that Mike Mayock would replace Joe Theismann and Matt Millen and he would be teamed with either incumbent play-by-play man Bob Papa or Gus Johnson. Well, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated has learned that Mayock is indeed coming into the booth for NFL Network and he’ll be joined by ESPN’s Brad Nessler!

This came totally out of left field. NFL Network is not commenting on the matter. (UPDATE: Now NFL Network has commented with this press release.)

Nessler has called NFL games before, having called the Monday Night Football late night opening season doubleheader game in 2006 and 2010. Before that, he did NFL regional games for CBS in 1990 and 1991. Since 1992, he’s been with ESPN/ABC assigned to college football and basketball. His partner for the last couple of years on college football has been Todd Blackledge. He’s a very good play-by-play man and would probably be in line to replace Brent Musburger when he retires. Richard says Nessler would most likely remain at ESPN to call college football.

Mayock did a very good job in his return to the booth last season as the analyst for Notre Dame football on NBC and also did analysis for one NFL Wild Card playoff game back in January. He should shine in the Thursday Night Football booth.

This continues the upheaval for NFL Network since obtaining the Thursday Night Football package. Let’s hope this booth of Nessler and Mayock, if true, can remain in place for a while.