Remember the good ol’ days when the big money to be made football was in front of the camera as a star player or Super Bowl-winning coach?
Maybe somewhat appropriately in this age of crypto and NFTs, actually being an impactful part of the game no longer apparently carries the cache it once did.
Suddenly the craziest money in the NFL isn’t for players or even sideline geniuses. Now, it’s for those same guys after they’ve retired from the competition of game days thanks to the explosion of the TV contracts and the productions that go with them.
Just this week Hall of Fame former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman inked a five-year, $85 million deal to take his talking to ESPN’s Monday Night Football coverage.
This comes after CBS gave another former and far less accomplished Cowboys QB in Tony Romo a 10-year deal that averages more than $17.5 million per grueling 17-game season in the creature comforts of the weekly press box.
Somewhere along the lines TV executives got the erroneous idea that fans tune in rabidly in any part due to the voice they hear describing the action on their 65-inch, clear-as-day screen.
Now, NFL TV newbie Amazon Prime is reportedly pursuing big names to be the face, voice and draw for its now-exclusive Thursday Night Football broadcasts.
That could include guys like Sean Payton, Sean McVay, Drew Brees or others.
But if Amazon is truly focused on a hire that would actually garner eyeballs, hook those looking to hear something fresh and unique, and if they are willing to pay in weird ways like ESPN and CBS, there is a much bigger coaching fish it should troll for.
Payton will probably be decent at TV, even though he’s never done the job full-time before and former Cowboys tight end Jason Witten recently proved like many Hall of Fame talents before him that making the jump from camera-friendly, quotable player can be more difficult than it might seem.
Obviously Payton has some name-recognition and coaching cache from his flashy singular Super Bowl ring and a decade-plus working with Brees.
Payton will know the game, have stories to tell and might be really, really good behind a microphone.
But a better option for Amazon, maybe one a bit less obvious thanks to his career-long battles with reporters in an effort to be as fruitless as possible behind a microphone would be six-time Patriots’ Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick.
Remember, Belichick already added an Emmy to his Lombardi-packed trophy case thanks to his work with the NFL Network and its 100 Greatest Players series.
Still, on the surface it sounds crazy. Why would Belichick want to do TV?
For the same reason all his former players who avoided and at times tried to bully the media during their playing days – guys like Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest and others – turn to TV jobs when their playing days are over. It’s a great retirement career.
Thanks to the stupid money being thrown around though, TV is no longer just an option in retirement when you’ve moved on from the game or the game has moved on from you.
Just days before the 36-year-old Rams coach McVay cemented his legacy by winning the Super Bowl earlier this month, the young sideline stud admitted he might be considering walking away from the game and reportedly part of that scenario of a shockingly-early retirement revolves around the idea that he could make huge money in TV, maybe even on Amazon working with his neighbor and pal Al Michaels.
With his 70th birthday little more than a month away, Belichick’s coaching career is in its twilight whether recommitted, post-Brady Patriot Nation fans want to admit it or not.
Sure he’s seemingly still going strong coming off a playoff season with rookie QB Mac Jones. But have you seen his new-look coaching staff? How many different jobs he’s seemingly going to have to do or at least oversee this season? How many antacids will he need to ingest in the coming months?
While he reportedly lands somewhere in the range of $20 million a year for his Patriots services, that’s for a year-round, stress-filled role.
What would the aging Belichick think if Amazon came to him with an offer for say $25 or $30 million a year to be the foundation of its NFL broadcasts?
Can you imagine the knowledge and analytical breakdowns Belichick would bring to the job?
Oh, and lots of personality. Despite what you may have heard or read, when Belichick is comfortable talking football – which is to say not talking about his current team, players or opponent – he’s must-listen.
The combination of dry wit, passionate praise and searing criticism is indeed the stuff that TV executives should dream.
And if you put Belichick on a streaming service like Amazon, he won’t have to worry about those dated FCC regulations. The film room, locker room, production meeting version of the GOAT coach could tell it like he sees it because anyone who’s heard Belichick in an honest football environment knows he works “profanity like other artists might work oils or clay.” (Yes, quoting A Christmas Story is always timely.)
Forget the Manningcast, a Belichickcast (sure, the big-money TV geniuses can come up for a better name) would be appointment TV and, unlike Aikman or Romo, would actually drive viewers to a broadcast and keep them there. Belichick, unlike the former quarterbacks, would be bigger than the big game and its star players that he’d be talking about each week.
Maybe we’re being overly hopeful, but yes it is reasonable to think Belichick would be open to being as open as possible on the air. He’s just about reached that don’t-give-a-you-know-what stage of his life.
If he can verbally tear Tom Brady to shreds in front of the entire team, Belichick can honestly assess why a cornerback got toasted on TNF.
Belichick is probably already too entrenched in the 2022 Patriots to walk away now. He’d likely turn down any amount of money that Amazon could deliver to him.
But someday, someday soon, some crafty, overspending TV executive needs to lure Belichick to the media dark side.
Forget the old days of “Friends” and “Seinfeld,” Belichick would be true must see TV for football fans.
Can’t hurt to ask him and throw money at him, right?
After all, as the Million Dollar Man used to say, “Everybody’s got a price.”
And NFL TV is already paying the craziest of prices these days.