NFL Broadcast Boot Camp's a grind, but one that's paying off for players
An ongoing debate in football has been about how to prepare players for life after hanging up their cleats, and a lot of that's about factors beyond just physical health. It's crucial that players are able to adapt to a post-career lifestyle in terms of money, jobs and purpose; while some have gone on to great off-field success, there are also plenty of powerful stories of those who have failed. Cognizant of the implications here, both the NFL and the NFLPA have been taking substantial steps of late to try and prepare football players for what comes next. One element in that plan is the league's Broadcast Boot Camp, an intensive four-day seminar for current and retired players interested in broadcast careers where they get to learn from current on-air personalities (such as CBS' James Brown, Fox's Curt Menafee and ESPN's Ron Jaworski), producers and executives, and work on various elements of the profession along the way. SB Nation's Dan Rubenstein went behind the scenes at Broadcast Boot Camp this week, and he came away with some fascinating information on what goes on there:
As Rubenstein's video shows, making it in broadcasting isn't an easy path for these players. There's obviously a lot of interest, but just making it to this boot camp is difficult enough; 19 of the most promising players were picked out of nearly 100 applicants. Once they get in, there's lots to learn, too. Former Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Kris Jenkins' comment to Rubenstein that "The locker room is just so Neanderthalish" was particularly notable; that's not so much a slam on football or football players' intelligence, but rather recognition that in the NFL, all that matters is what you do on the field, not how you talk. In the broadcast booth, it's the exact inverse; plenty of great players have utterly failed as broadcasters, while many who didn't have the most memorable playing careers have gone on to prominence.
There are plenty of obstacles along this path for players. Former Patriots' receiver Troy Brown told Rubenstein that a particular challenge for him was criticizing former teammates, saying "It was just so difficult to do that." That's understandable; these guys have been with the same teams for a lot of years in many cases, and the locker-room environment tends to be focused on uniting those within it against those without. That loyalty can hurt as a broadcaster, though, especially in the NFL; many are a little more accepting of homerism in baseball, the NHL or the NBA, particularly on local broadcasts, but national (or at least regional) broadcasts are more standard in football, and bias towards one team can quickly drag down a career. No one's expecting the Rodney Harrisons and Tony Dungys of the world to completely abandon their past loyalties, but those guys have found success because they will still criticize their former organizations and their former teammates when it's warranted. Learning how to do that's a crucial skill for these players to acquire, but not an easy one.
The broadcasting path can be difficult, but it can also be a rewarding one, and this camp has found a lot of success in getting players onto that path. Over its six-year history, 44 of the 105 players who have taken part in this boot camp have gone on to land broadcasting jobs, impressive considering the limited number of those out there. Four players from this year's camp have already landed opportunities, too; current players Nate Burleson (receiver, Detroit) and Joel Dreessen (tight end, Denver) will serve as guest hosts on Sirius XM this season, while former players Brown and Mark Tauscher (Green Bay) will get to spend a regular-season Sunday game as an analyst for one of the league's TV partners in Britain. It wouldn't be surprising to see more players from this class land jobs down the road, either, and that's a good thing; these kinds of initiatives could play crucial roles in preparing players to succeed after their football careers end, and that's a terrific outcome.
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Dear Skip Sniffer. It's liberal attitudes such as yours that conspire to hide the real meaning behind posts. Elitist schools are what they are. Why would you go back 20 years and dig up what a college aged kid said and hold it up to say "See what him did?" Let it go. He came back and appologized. You on the other hand don't see the points. I said that Duke is elitist because of the players that they recruit as well as attract. Michigan is a state school. Duke is a private school. The quality of life in a midwest school may not be as attactive as on in a school on the eastern seaboard. But wait a minute - why talk about school to a Skip Sniffer anyway?
Yes Jalen Rose got paid to play sports. Is that a bad thing? I think not. Does that give him greater insight than your idol has? Of course it does. Having Jalen Rose and other people who have actually played the game adds validity to the programs at ESPN. As far as your Jerry Springer comment, nobody on ESPN shows are ringing bells so that a toothless couple can duke it out over philandering. My credentials? Yes I have played organized sports and have been paid to do so. I've been there - where have you been? That doesn't make me more or less of an officianado to post on some blog. Come on, Skip Sniffer! Get it together. And I do agree with you on one point. You SHOULD be banned from posting! Skip Sniffer.
Hookedonports is so namby pamby. Jalen Rose walked the walked and now he has a right to talk the talk. Cooking and basketball are two different things that require two very different skill sets. By the way, he told the truth on Duke. Duke only recruited a certain type of black player back then. They also recruited a certain type of white player. Duke is an elitist school. So is Harvard, Cornel, Brown, Stanford and Rice. It is what it is. Doesn't make Duke a bad school. And finally, how do you know everything that Skip Bayless have ever said. You should be banned from posting. You need a Jalen Rose. He makes the conversation credible. Players get tired of has beens and never wases sitting in ivory towers with nothing but negativity about about skilled craftsmen. You are a Skip Sniffer.
@JB4Three Oh, I see. Because Jalen Rose got paid for playing basketball he is free to say and do whatever he pleases. Your view of "the truth" about Duke and the players they recruited is what I would expect from someone who has no clue about what the problem is.To call Grant Hill and people like him "Uncle Toms" and not authentically black is wrong, and he apologized. If recruiting people of great talent and character is "elitist" I guess Duke is guilty. I should be banned from posting because my opinion differs from yours, and I won't engage in some juvenile name-calling exhibition like a 10 year old? Jalen Rose is fine when he confines himself to opinions about sports. When he tries to publicly embarrass a colleague on the air, he crosses the line. I couldn't care less about Skip Bayless. I would have said the same thing if the roles had been reversed. Unlike you, I understand the difference between disagreements and opinions about sports and turning First Take into the Jerry Springer Show. By the way, what are your credentials for expressing opinions about sports? There have always been people on sports shows who are not professional athletes. Yes, cooking and basketball are two different things, but most people understand the concept of an analogy. I probably shouldn't have bothered to respond to this post because I know I'm wasting my time.
It is obvious you couldn't tell the truth if your balls were in a vise and Joe Pesci was standing there w/ a baseball bat. You originated your baseless immature false accusation personal attacks on posters w/ your "crude" and "unable to understand English" incorrect and childish playground taunts. Springer has nothing on you when it comes to demanding your benighted opinion as fact. All you need is a mud pit and a dancing pole. You are wrong, Jalen Rose has the right to say what he pleases. Considering the pure garbage you have spewed here, you are hypocritical to imply that Rose can't speak his mind. And unlike your crap, what Rose said about Bayless was truthful. The subject of this article is Skip's "fraudulent basketball career". Try to learn how to stick to the subject for a change. Here's a clue, Bayless brought up his basketball career bragging, not Rose. Skip embarassed himself w/ his fasle implications. FIrst Take is public forum, designed for and selling public debate. That means that the comments Skip makes are open to examination and revealing of innacuracy. Same w/ Internet blogs. You decide to post your comments here. You can't cry just because everyone does not agree w/ you and exposes your unsupportabel assertions. You are half right though, you have been a waste time and oxygen since your first post here.
Dear Skip Sniffer. It's liberal attitudes such as yours that conspire to hide the real meaning behind posts. Elitist schools are what they are. Why would you go back 20 years and dig up what a college aged kid said and hold it up to say "See what him did?" Let it go. He came back and appologized. You on the other hand don't see the points. I said that Duke is elitist because of the players that they recruit as well as attract. Michigan is a state school. Duke is a private school. The quality of life in a midwest school may not be as attactive as on in a school on the eastern seaboard. But wait a minute - why talk about school to a Skip Sniffer anyway?
Yes Jalen Rose got paid to play sports. Is that a bad thing? I think not. Does that give him greater insight than your idol has? Of course it does. Having Jalen Rose and other people who have actually played the game adds validity to the programs at ESPN. As far as your Jerry Springer comment, nobody on ESPN shows are ringing bells so that a toothless couple can duke it out over philandering. My credentials? Yes I have played organized sports and have been paid to do so. I've been there - where have you been? That doesn't make me more or less of an officianado to post on some blog. Come on, Skip Sniffer! Get it together. And I do agree with you on one point. You SHOULD be banned from posting! Skip Sniffer.
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Thought Rose took a cheap shot at Bayless. His basketball career is irrelevant. I don't have to be a cook to know good food when I eat it. Find Rose insufferable. His vicious attack on Duke and its black players is worse than anything Skip Bayless has ever said about a player. Rose's concern about name-calling is ludicrous in light of his history. Personally I would never have put him on the air after his film. I'm sure Skip Bayless would not agree, but I think Rose should be fired. Everyone likes to see someone like Bayless put in his place, but in this case it was a classless act.
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Apparently, Bayless disagrees w/ your assessment of his basketball career. He felt it was so relevent that he used it as his basis for criticizing Westbrook's game.
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Rose shouldn't be fired. Bayless has been saying negative things about players for a long as a "mature" adult. Rose said those things about Duke 20 something years ago and has since apologized, because they were said out of ignorance and he admitted they were ignorant. Somebody needs to put bayless in his place.
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@chillimac If Skip Bayless ever said anything like what Rose said about Duke he would have been fired on the spot. Rose's film was not made 20 years ago. He apologized because he did not have a choice. If those were no longer his views, why would he publicize them in a film? He didn't distance himself from those opinions until Grant Hill called him on it. Again, my point is that Rose and Bayless are friends and colleagues. Disagreeing with a colleague is one thing; trying to humiliate him in public is another.
@hookedonsports Firing Jalen is pushing it. It made for good TV and he called out Skip Bayless on credible grounds.
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@dheredia88 I didn't find this to be "good TV." It's not professional to try and embarrass a colleague on the air. I'm sure Rose won't be fired, but I wouldn't have hired him in the first place because of his film. I know some are entertained by this sort of soap opera, but frankly I am not. The discussion of Russell Westbrook's play is legitimate. The basketball career of Skip Bayless can be scrutinized by whoever wants to go there, but Rose was out of line when he brought it up. He should have more respect for Bayless. If Bayless lied, he opens himself up for criticism, but it shouldn't have been done by Rose on the air. I realize that in the tabloid era, people love to see blood in the water. You just don't expect a friend and colleague to put it there.
Exactly as you complained regarding Rose, you personally attack people saying their notions are crude and incorrectly implying they can't understand plain English. Heres' a clue, that is not addressing the subject, which is exactly what you whine about. Do you know what the word hypocrite means? Now you cry that you are insulted when your bare faced lying is exposed. You insult everyone's intelligence w/ the garbage you resort to. Not a good idea to falsely claim you have no interest in trading insults, when you instigate your insulting to begin with. Here is a prediction, not only was your previous proclamation totally untrue and far from your last comment as you said, but you will return again to continue spewing your insults. Learn to stick to the subject discussed and not insult, then you won't have to cry when you get treated the way you act.
@JoeBlack2 @AlTucker I was tired of the argument but couldn't let that response go unanswered. Wasn't aware that changing your mind was a form of lying. You are no longer addressing the subject, and resorting to attempting to insult me. I don't mind discussing an issue with someone who disagrees with me, but I have no interest in trading insults.
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Ok, reading what you wrote, you said your previous comment to this one would be your last. Obviously, you have the same deficiencies as Bayless in regards to telling the truth.If you lack the comprehensive ability to understand this provable fact, find someone to read and explain to you s l o w l y.
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@AlTucker You have obviously not read anything that I wrote, or you are not capable of understanding plain English. I did not say Skip Bayless was an authority on anything. I said that it is his job to analyze or critique players, teams, etc. He has been critical of various players and given them nicknames. No one is disputing that. The argument here is whether it is appropriate for co-hosts to go after each other in a personal way and attempt to embarrass a colleague. Hopefully you can understand the difference. Glad you are amused by your own crude notion of humor. Jalen Rose was not expressing an opinion. He was personally attacking Bayless. He is not there to attack his co-hosts. He is free to disagree with or object to anything one of them says. He is not free to take a cheap shot . It was unprofessional. A lot of people dislike Skip Bayless. Because of this they think it's great that he was embarrassed by Rose in this way. If it had been the other way around, I think the comments would be a lot different.
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Was the Bosh-spice comment a compliment or attack on Chris Bosh' work ethic ; was The Frozen one phrase ment to compliment or embarass Lebron James? Was the statement, that Kevin Durrant needed to be polygraphed for saying that he had no problems w/ Westbrook taking shots, a professional critique from a psycologist or sarcasm from a columnist infatuated by the idea that people like HOOKEDONSPORTS assumes that he's actually some sort of authority on the subject? Easy answers (they are not rhetorical sir). Skip is as valid, and in his element, as HOOKED is for even speaking on what is- and what is'nt appropriate for Mr. Rose to say on any network. Jalen, IN MY OPINION, had just as much validity as Skip to formulate an onion and express it on whatever forum he is GIVEN. Besides in the words of Skip himself, as ants under the umbrella of the enertainment world, they each are "fair game" for scrutiny and opinionated fodder from all sources involved. In closing, opinions are like rectums, everbodys' got one, and Skip could probrably light a ciggarette on his (had to laugh at that one).So let's, in the words of the great Joe Friday, stick to the facts.
This is going to be my last comment. It's Skip's job to critique players. He can be obnoxious. However, he doesn't try to embarrass his co-hosts. If he did that, he would be unprofessional. Rose got personal, and that was inappropriate.
Bayless constantly attacks players and gives them stupid nicknames. Jalen is the foot in the ass of Bayless that a lot of NBA players would like to have. SKip Bayless does not have the respect of NBA players because he spouts constant garbage. Calling Jalen unprofessional is ignorant. Rose may come across as too emotional and misdirected at times, but his heart is in the right place. Bayless should have a show like Jerry Springer, because he is a piece of garbage that creates problems.
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that's great...Lot of respect to Jalen.
Bayless is trash and he brings down any credibility ESPN has.
Jalen wants to be kinder & gentler sportscaster, but that would be so boring @the end of the day. Names like BoshSpice, LeBRick, are funny so what the guys are laughing all the way to the bank. It knocks them down a peg or 2. Jalen, as Grant Hill said "is insulting and ignorant" at times. But he feels for the athletes, (those who are not Uncle Toms). Stephen A tried to lend some intell to him only to be blasted by Jalen. True the DUI guy has a lot to learn about the way of the world and what makes it spin. Attack your colleagues only to show u don't get it.
Jalen's excellent and pretty fearless in the public arena. If you don't know about his podcast, the Jalen Rose Show, recommended reading: http://aldland.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/smackland-podcast-the-jalen-rose-show/
Awesome work Jalen! Skip should not have a job on ESPN. He makes the network even more of a joke.
