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Who calls the games?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 4:15 pm
by Arlo99
any talk or rumours of who the XFL might hire to call the action? will they come from ABC/ESPN and FOX or new hires exclusive to the XFL? I can see some WWE personalities who have Football/Sports background going over to the league like Pat McAfee,
Jonathan Coachman (worked at ESPN) who should they hire

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 5:43 pm
by MikeMitchell
Arlo99 wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 4:15 pm any talk or rumours of who the XFL might hire to call the action? will they come from ABC/ESPN and FOX or new hires exclusive to the XFL? I can see some WWE personalities who have Football/Sports background going over to the league like Pat McAfee,
Jonathan Coachman (worked at ESPN) who should they hire
I think that the networks are going to make that call. ABC and Fox have deep broadcast talent rosters.

Two people who are big supporters of the XFL are Joel Klatt and Tim Brando. I can see them working XFL games. Whomever does the games needs to have great knowledge of college football and the pros. I think Klatt and Brando would be great.

Pat McAfee would be awesome in any setting. He can be a bit clownish but he’s a perfect #2 guy. McMahon loves him, by all indications. Coachman could do something with the league but I wouldn’t bank on him.

I am personally a fan of Charles Davis. I like his knowledge of the game and personality. He and Burkhardt do a good job covering games together.

Gus Johnson would also be fun calling games.

The XFL has 4 broadcasts a week. With 2 or more on network tv every week.

There might be some ex players and coaches who get a shot. Rex Ryan could be fun. Kurt Warner makes sense.

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 6:10 pm
by GDAWG
MikeMitchell wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 5:43 pm
Arlo99 wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 4:15 pm any talk or rumours of who the XFL might hire to call the action? will they come from ABC/ESPN and FOX or new hires exclusive to the XFL? I can see some WWE personalities who have Football/Sports background going over to the league like Pat McAfee,
Jonathan Coachman (worked at ESPN) who should they hire
I think that the networks are going to make that call. ABC and Fox have deep broadcast talent rosters.

Two people who are big supporters of the XFL are Joel Klatt and Tim Brando. I can see them working XFL games. Whomever does the games needs to have great knowledge of college football and the pros. I think Klatt and Brando would be great.

Pat McAfee would be awesome in any setting. He can be a bit clownish but he’s a perfect #2 guy. McMahon loves him, by all indications. Coachman could do something with the league but I wouldn’t bank on him.

I am personally a fan of Charles Davis. I like his knowledge of the game and personality. He and Burkhardt do a good job covering games together.

Gus Johnson would also be fun calling games.

The XFL has 4 broadcasts a week. With 2 or more on network tv every week.

There might be some ex players and coaches who get a shot. Rex Ryan could be fun. Kurt Warner makes sense.
I prefer Kurt Warner being a part of the St. Louis XFL team as color commentator of their games on radio, assuming the XFL goes with local radio deals.

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 6:35 pm
by XFLInSTL
A couple AAF commentators (like MJD) were pretty good. I'd like to see MJD definitely. Charles Davis would be solid too.

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 7:03 pm
by MikeMitchell
GDAWG wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 6:10 pm
MikeMitchell wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 5:43 pm
Arlo99 wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 4:15 pm any talk or rumours of who the XFL might hire to call the action? will they come from ABC/ESPN and FOX or new hires exclusive to the XFL? I can see some WWE personalities who have Football/Sports background going over to the league like Pat McAfee,
Jonathan Coachman (worked at ESPN) who should they hire
I think that the networks are going to make that call. ABC and Fox have deep broadcast talent rosters.

Two people who are big supporters of the XFL are Joel Klatt and Tim Brando. I can see them working XFL games. Whomever does the games needs to have great knowledge of college football and the pros. I think Klatt and Brando would be great.

Pat McAfee would be awesome in any setting. He can be a bit clownish but he’s a perfect #2 guy. McMahon loves him, by all indications. Coachman could do something with the league but I wouldn’t bank on him.

I am personally a fan of Charles Davis. I like his knowledge of the game and personality. He and Burkhardt do a good job covering games together.

Gus Johnson would also be fun calling games.

The XFL has 4 broadcasts a week. With 2 or more on network tv every week.

There might be some ex players and coaches who get a shot. Rex Ryan could be fun. Kurt Warner makes sense.
I prefer Kurt Warner being a part of the St. Louis XFL team as color commentator of their games on radio, assuming the XFL goes with local radio deals.
I don’t know how much broadcast experience he has but it wouldn’t shock me at all if Marc Bulger was in some way involved with STL games. He has a close relationship with Oliver Luck. Bulger is one of the people who pushed Oliver to choose St. Louis.

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 7:23 pm
by GregParks
Gus Johnson is the name that immediately came to mind for me for the FOX broadcasts; his style would seem to fit the desired pace and action the league is going for.

It will be interesting to see if it'll be college announcers or pro/NFL who do the games on the FOX side. Or if they bring in some new talent and "train" them via the XFL games to work their way up to college eventually. That may be more of an ESPN/ABC move since they have more college games than FOX, I think.

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 8:07 pm
by johnnyangryfuzzball
Play-by-play:
I think week 1, we get Joe Buck. Just because Joe Buck is Fox's guy and any big-name property is going to have him attached. We might get him for Weeks 9 and 10 depending on how successful it is. I don't think we'll see Gus Johnson simply because he'll be doing college basketball and I don't think he does much football anymore. Someone mentioned Tim Brando, and he's definitely a possibility.

ESPN, ABC... I really don't know. Sean McDonough is a real possibility. As I said before, I would not be surprised to see the return of Matt Vasgersian, since he's not busy that time of year with his usual baseball work.

I honestly think, though, that most of the names who will be calling games will be ones we don't really recognize, like Ben Holden and Dan Hellie were with the AAF.

Color commentary:
Pat McAfee is about as close to a given as there is for this. He's got a deal with Fox and WWE already, and he's got the style that (maybe even literally) screams "XFL." Going from that, I think ESPN and Fox are going to try and aim for personality. They won't make the mistake of hiring Jerry Lawler or Jesse the Body again (God, I hope not!), so you're probably going to see a lot of "personality" type players, the Terrell Owens types. (Not saying they'll land Owens, but you get what I'm saying.) There've been rumors of Rob Gronkowski and he'd be a good fit for something like this.

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 10:08 pm
by craig
I could see Dan Orlovsky(sp) and one of the Hasselbacks on ESPN/ABC as analysts. Sean McDonough and Steve Levy on PBP.

On Fox, Gus Johnson and Chris Meyers on PBP. Pat McAfee and Brock Huard as analysts.

ESPN studio would feature Rex Ryan and maybe some SEC Network talent. Laura Rutledge host.

Fox studio has Charissa Thompson as host. Dave Wannstadt and Robert Smith.

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 12:48 pm
by MikeMitchell
I think it’s important that all bases are covered during these broadcasts. You want former coaches and players breaking down the games. A strong football analyst. Someone also with a strong scouting/personnel background who has knowledge of all these players. I think that’s where a Joel Klatt or Charles Davis comes in handy. Get the viewer to know who these players are and bring up their value. So they are not just unknown “rejects” but elite college players with upside.

I am not opposed to someone on the broadcasts, perhaps in studio, who will break down the gambling aspect of the games before, during and after. Make the point spread and over/unders, a part of the conversation. Embrace it.

It would be nice if the broadcasts are reimagined to an extent as well. Bring that NFL/NCAA quality coverage but update it for the year 2020. You don’t want anything about the league to feel generic.

Re: Who calls the games?

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 12:52 pm
by MikeMitchell
craig wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 10:08 pm I could see Dan Orlovsky(sp) and one of the Hasselbacks on ESPN/ABC as analysts. Sean McDonough and Steve Levy on PBP.

On Fox, Gus Johnson and Chris Meyers on PBP. Pat McAfee and Brock Huard as analysts.

ESPN studio would feature Rex Ryan and maybe some SEC Network talent. Laura Rutledge host.

Fox studio has Charissa Thompson as host. Dave Wannstadt and Robert Smith.
Nice list. Someone who is also a big supporter of the league is Brian Baldinger. He was heart broken when NFL Europe folded. You want someone who calls the games or covers the league, that embraces the concept and is not just collecting an additional paycheck.

A lesser known broadcaster who is also good and has very good knowledge of the game is Tom Luginbill. It doesn’t hurt that he has a tie in, in that his father Al was the head coach of the XFL’s first championship team in LA.