Saint KayBee
Football
Online
I originally got into football by watching Saints games with my family. My big brother played football growing up, but I wasn’t allowed to (not for girls!), though I did play flag football briefly. However between family Sundays watching the Saints, going to my brother’s games, and then being able to play on the Nintendo, these outlets allowed me to enjoy the game.
However, I learned football from watching ESPN NFL Primetime. Primetime was a celebration of the game, and every game was featured regardless of team prestige or final score. I remember enjoying the replays where Tom Jackson would describe a pull block, or a smart read by a safety, or a great usage of play-action to draw the defense forward. Chris Berman’s catchphrases and player nicknames/puns off their names created entertainment and memorability for guys who may otherwise have remained obscure. They assigned Robin Roberts a lot of Patriots or Falcons games back when neither team was very good, but it was a space where she developed her skills at recalling sports action, and I got to see that there could be a place for women in football broadcasting.
There’s a lot of recap programming now, dare I say too much, but I feel like much of it is tilted to the prestige teams because discourse has devolved into “who can win the ringssssssss” more than actual enjoyment of the sport. Does anyone else occasionally fire up an old YouTube video of Primetime and reminisce on better times? I wish there was something I could do to bring this type of program back.
However, I learned football from watching ESPN NFL Primetime. Primetime was a celebration of the game, and every game was featured regardless of team prestige or final score. I remember enjoying the replays where Tom Jackson would describe a pull block, or a smart read by a safety, or a great usage of play-action to draw the defense forward. Chris Berman’s catchphrases and player nicknames/puns off their names created entertainment and memorability for guys who may otherwise have remained obscure. They assigned Robin Roberts a lot of Patriots or Falcons games back when neither team was very good, but it was a space where she developed her skills at recalling sports action, and I got to see that there could be a place for women in football broadcasting.
There’s a lot of recap programming now, dare I say too much, but I feel like much of it is tilted to the prestige teams because discourse has devolved into “who can win the ringssssssss” more than actual enjoyment of the sport. Does anyone else occasionally fire up an old YouTube video of Primetime and reminisce on better times? I wish there was something I could do to bring this type of program back.
