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Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth ‘Already Comfortable’ Together

“I understand there’s going to be a transition period of time, but we’ve already spent a lot of time together, obviously, getting ready for this season,” Collinsworth said.

Derek Futterman

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NBC’s primetime Sunday Night Football booth is bringing a new look to both its booth and its broadcast as it seeks to become primetime television’s number one show for the 12th straight year. With the regular season quickly approaching, the broadcast team of Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, and Melissa Stark has worked throughout the summer to build a working chemistry with one another.

Mike Tirico enters this role after previously serving as the voice of Monday Night Football on ABC from 2006 to 2015, a role he entered replacing Al Michaels when NBC acquired the Sunday-night rights . Since that time, he has been the host of NBC’s Football Night in America and also continues to be the host of primetime coverage of the Olympic Games.

Now, as Michaels joins his producer Fred Gaudelli at Amazon Prime Video, Tirico will once again take his seat in the booth. While he knows Michaels set a high standard, he is confident that he and his colleagues can continue to reach it, especially following their call of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio in early August.

“If I learned anything in Canton, it’s that my instincts are to be trusted,” Tirico said. “We’re going to be fine. Everybody communicates; everybody connects, gets along [and we are] similar-minded folks. Sometimes when you look at sports television, I think the most valuable thing is putting together a group that fits and works well together.”

Being just the fourth full-time play-by-play announcer on Sunday Night Football is certainly something Tirico does not take lightly; however, at this stage in his career, it does not profoundly influence his mindset, if at all. With the start of the regular season on the precipice, Tirico is excited to get started and become a weekly fixture during primetime football on Sunday nights.

“It’s an assignment that I’ve worked for,” Tirico said. “I feel like I’ve completely prepared for [it] and I am surrounded by the best people. For me, there’s no angst about being the next person in that chair.”

Cris Collinsworth remains the constant in the broadcast booth as he enters his 14th season as an analyst in the booth. Now as he famously slides in the broadcast open each week, it will be Tirico instead of Michaels on his right. The change is not entirely distressing to Collinsworth, considering he and Tirico have previously called 21 NFL games together since 2016: more than a full season’s worth. With a new host of colleagues joining the team, he understands the importance of developing synergy among team members, but entering this season, he does not feel the previous flow has abated significantly.

“I understand there’s going to be a transition period of time, but we’ve already spent a lot of time together, obviously, getting ready for this season,” Collinsworth said. “There’s a real comfort already to just being a part of the group and being friends and being able to tell jokes about each other and on each other that typically don’t come until you’ve known somebody a couple years at least, and it’s just like a group I’m used to hanging out with already. I hope that’s what comes across on the air.”

Joining Tirico and Collinsworth on the broadcast team from the sidelines is Melissa Stark, a longtime reporter in both sports and news media. Stark had been an NFL Network host for the past 11 seasons following a stint at NBC News and MSNBC. She is set to return to the sidelines for the first time in nearly 20 years, as she previously worked in the role for Monday Night Football on ABC but left it in order to start a family.

“Sports was always my passion, so now here I am coming back four teenagers later,” Stark said. “[I’m] so excited to work with the very best in the business… and excited about all the new resources that we have on the sidelines.” Season 17 of Sunday Night Football on NBC will commence with the kickoff game between the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

Three days later, the first Sunday night matchup of the year takes place when Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys, which will include the premiere of a new show open for the broadcast featuring 8-time Grammy Award winning singer Carrie Underwood. Both matchups are set to kick off at 8:20 EST/7:20 CST.

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Dan Orlovsky: Stephen A. Smith Allows Me to Be Me on First Take

“He’s not focused on having this intense ‘I’ve got to be right moment’. He just wants to have fun talking football and arguing about sports in general.”

Ricky Keeler

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Dan Orlovsky has become a regular presence on ESPN whether it’s calling football games as an analyst or talking about the game on NFL Live, Get Up, or First Take and he loves every job that he gets to do.

Orlovsky was a guest on the most recent episode of GOLF’s SUBPAR with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. When he was asked what he likes doing the best out of all of the things he gets to do, he mentioned that it’s a question he gets all the time and he dove into why he loves each of the roles he has.

“I love them all to be honest with you. We get asked that question all the time by executives: What’s your end goal? What do you want to do more of? What do you want to do less of? I always say I love it all. If you get a good live game, it’s nails. There’s nothing that beats a good live game. Really in college football, if you get the right scene, right setting, and get a great game, it’s tough to beat…If you get a good college football or NFL game, those are great.

First Take is a blast because Stephen A. called me 2 years ago and was like I want to give you Thursdays. Thursday is going to be your day. I think the thing that gave me so much joy in doing Thursdays with Stephen A. is he’s so ‘Go be yourself’. He’s not focused on having this intense ‘I’ve got to be right moment’. He just wants to have fun talking football and arguing about sports in general. I love doing First Take.

 “I love doing Get Up because it kind of was where I got started and they’ve given me a lot of creative freedom. NFL Live is my favorite when it comes to I’m with people who I love. Those people are like family to me. That’s where I am my most nerd is NFL Live. I love it all.”

When Orlovsky was discussing more about working with Smith, he talked about how all Smith wants to do is talk sports and that conversations that extend into the commercial break never get personal even though some could view them as awkward.

“One of the first times I did First Take, we were in commercial break and I was sitting there talking to Stephen A. about whatever. All of a sudden when you are on set, someone yells 15 seconds till we are live. Stephen A says what’s the topic?

Live TV comes on and he goes from this casual conversation to performance. I think that’s empowering when you see him do that because that’s part of that show. He takes a ton of pride in it, but it’s not fake. It’s just who he is in that moment. He’s not overly sensitive. He’s never going to get defensive about stuff. He just literally wants to chop it up and argue and disagree and have entertaining sports conversations. It could be viewed as awkward, but it’s never personal.”

When Orlovsky first became a part of the media, he told Knost and Stoltz he learned the power of making a list and that when coming up with a Top 5, it should be something that generates conversation.

“I learned early on in this business lists are supposed to be disagreed upon. If you make a list and everyone’s like ‘I kind of agree’, it’s boring. I am aware when I make lists of trying to make something that is going to generate conversation, generate disagreement. I’m not going to make a list that I don’t think is accurate or don’t think is something I stand by. I’ve had guys reach out to me and be like ‘What the heck is this all about?’. I have had agents text me. They text me all the time saying ‘What are you doing? You are driving value’.

“I am aware I am on ESPN a ton. I try to be very conscious of that as well. I have had guys and agents reach out a bunch, but I have to do my job the best I can.”

Even though Orlovsky had a solid career as a backup in the NFL, he said that he is having more fun now because of the success that he is having.

“I am better at this than I was as a player. Once you settle into that role, it’s really cool as a backup, but you don’t have any competitive release though. You do all the work as everyone else, but you don’t get to go out on Sundays and prove that work was worth it. I love doing this now because there’s an aspect of taking immense pride in trying to find something that you can be really good at after you were really good at something…It’s another opportunity to find a way to be really good at something and have that as a daily challenge.”

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Sean McManus: LIV Golfers Won’t Get Different Treatment During The Masters

“We’re not gonna put our heads in the sand.”

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CBS Sports is preparing for coverage of its 68th consecutive year of The Masters, but the 2023 event could prove to be unlike any before it, and CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus is cognizant of the situation.

After several former Masters champions departed the PGA Tour for the upstart LIV Golf, many pondered what that meant for the sport’s major championships. The Masters decided to continue to allow the golfers who are now playing exclusively with the Saudi-backed league to compete for the green jacket. McManus shared that CBS will continue the showcase the golfers as it always has.

“We’re not gonna cover up or hide anything,” McManus said, as reported by Golf Digest. “As I’ve said so often, our job is to cover the golf tournament. We’re not gonna show any different treatment for the golfers who have played on the LIV tour than we do the other golfers. And if there’s a pertinent point or something that we need to, or we feel that we should bring up in our coverage on Saturday and Sunday, or on our other coverage throughout the week, you know, we’re not gonna put our heads in the sand.

“Having said that, unless it really affects the story that’s taking place on the golf course, we’re not gonna go out of our way to cover it. I’m not sure there’s anything that we could add to the story as it already exists. We’ll cover it as, as is suitable.”

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NFL Owners Not Voting on Flex Scheduling For Thursday Night Football

“The owners have simply decided to wait until May to make their decision.”

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Thursday Night Football

Amazon will have to wait for flex scheduling. NFL owners decided to table a proposal that would allow the league to create more compelling matchups for Thursday Night Football later in the season.

That doesn’t mean flex scheduling won’t be a reality on Thursday nights this season. The owners have simply decided to wait until May to make their decision.

Earlier this week, Peter King of NBC Sports reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is pushing the idea. Coaches have been outspoken about how much they dislike it, complaining about managing injuries and the competitive disadvantage that would come with finding out you suddenly have a shorter week of preparation than expected. According to King, Goodell is trying to make Amazon happy after the first season of Thursday Night Football failed to deliver projected audience numbers for Prime Video.

League owners did take a step they hope will lead to fewer games between losing teams. Last season, teams could only be scheduled once for a Thursday night game. The owners decided to bump that limit up to twice per season.

Goodell defended the proposal against accusations that the league is prioritizing revenue over player safety. 

“We always look at the data with respect to injuries,” he told the media gathered at the league meetings. “That is what drove our decisions throughout the first 12 or so years of Thursday Night Football and how it’s evolved. I think the data was very clear: it doesn’t show a higher injury rate. But we recognize shorter weeks. We went through this with COVID, too.”

When the idea of flex scheduling is revisited in May, it will require the support of 24 team owners in order to become a reality. 

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