Bob Raissman: Is Drew Brees willing to tackle the big issues facing the NFL in new role with NBC Sports?
NEW YORK — Maybe there wasn’t a specific moment that inspired NBC Sports suits to hire Drew Brees. Outside of expressing himself on Bountygate, criticizing Roger Goodell and commenting on players kneeling for the national anthem, the former Saints quarterback has kept his comments on the safe side during his 20 NFL seasons.
Unless he wants to tank on TV, Brees won’t be able to shift into vanilla. Nor can he take a rigid X’s and O’s approach if he has designs on winning over the unwashed masses.
Nonetheless, Brees, a recent gritty superstar quarterback, is a charitable, community-minded gentleman; a family man, winner and an above average communicator. These are admirable qualities.
Unfortunately, they don’t necessarily guarantee stardom as an NFL TV analyst.
NBC doesn’t want average. It wants Brees to be a star. It’s the Tony Romo Boomerang Theory. NBC Sports suits saw CBS hit a grand slam with Romo. Now, they want a piece of that action, coming back at them, with a quarterback of their own.
NBC inked Brees to a contract over a year before he retired leaving the impression 1) That he was such a hot property they had to lock him into a contract and 2) That he was the heir apparent, sooner rather than later, to Cris Collinsworth as the analyst on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” On a recent conference call NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood shot down — sort of — the Collinsworth nonsense saying Sir Long Neck would be kept “in that (SNF) chair for a long time.”
Anyway, Brees’ immediate assignments are still high profile. He will serve as a game analyst on NBC’s Notre Dame package and be one of the featured voices on Sunday night’s “Football Night in America” pregame show. Under “normal” circumstances, these are not walk-in-the-park gigs. But NBC’s Brees build-up has upped the ante, raising expectations to abnormal, and perhaps unfair, heights.
The NFL TV talent road is littered with carcasses of network-hyped “can’t miss” stars who flopped on the biggest stage at NBC. Guys like Tiki Barber and Hall of Famer Joe Montana. And unlike those two guys, Brees is walking into a tough room. And he’s doing it in the age of idiot-fueled social media.
“Football Night in America” analysts Rodney Harrison and Chris Simms are two of the most outspoken voices currently working behind an NFL microphone. And to a much lesser extent, Tony Dungy will pick his spots. Insider Mike Florio is by no means a shrinking violet. To make an impact inside of this group, in order to be heard, Brees must be amenable to diving into controversy.
“The best piece of advice I’ve gotten so far ... is ‘just be yourself,” Brees said during a conference call. “I’m going to talk like you’re sitting right next to me in my living room.”
That’s a nice, cover-your-tuchis answer. Yet when it’s go-time will Brees be critical of players he has played with or against?
How candid will Brees be when it comes to critiquing the Saints or Sean Payton’s play calling in certain situations?
Will he open up talking about NFL issues, on and off the field?
Issues bound to come up during the season?
While working for a network that pays billions for NFL TV rights, will he ever again refer to Goodell as “judge, jury and executioner,” when it comes to dealing with discipline?
Yes, Drew Brees has a big TV spotlight to fill. And he might find that task much harder than playing football.
