In a sports world dominated by football, one of the most coveted positions one can hold after being too washed up to play or coach anymore is to be an NFL Network or ESPN analyst. Former players can stay in the spotlight and compare every play to ones they used to make, and old coaches can prove to the world they still know a thing or two about America’s favorite game. Best of all, those kids who weren’t physically gifted enough to compete at a high level in football can get a chance to experience the glory days they never had.
From my perspective, being an analyst isn’t too difficult. They have to watch every game and point out the construction and development of key plays. They have to stay on top of statistical leaders and how players are performing this year as opposed to last. And they have to communicate this information in an easily-understandable fashion. This job sounds like any football lover’s dream – getting paid to watch football, meeting players and coaches and being known as an expert in the football realm.
Probably the hardest part of an analyst’s job is making predictions about which teams will win and which players will do well. However, this isn’t too difficult of a task in itself, for when your career consists of watching and studying football, it’s pretty easy to tell which teams are the best. For example, in a Patriots-Browns match-up, a monkey could predict New England’s Tom Brady steamrolling Cleveland. In the rare event that the Browns do win, the analysts will have a field day discussing how this upset happened, and no one will think twice about them being wrong. In the case of a heated rivalry, such as the Ravens-Steelers game, analysts picking sides adds to the fun. Simply put, fans don’t really care when analysts are wrong.
To me, analysts aren’t all that special; in fact, they are downright annoying. They make obvious comments about 50 percent of the time, unnecessary comments another 40 percent of the time and insightful comments about five percent of the time. Oh yeah, the last five percent of the time is spent coming up with the new trends like “Griffining” now that the “Tebowing” train has passed.
Some of the comments made by analysts can have a negative effect on the image of players in the game. For example, last year ESPN analyst and ex-New York Giants player Antonio Pierce told off two injured Giants for not staying and playing. “To me if you don’t have an injury that needs surgery, or that’s severe, you need to be out there,” Pierce said on “Mike & Mike in the Morning.” One of the injured players, Justin Tuck, also received flack from Fox analyst and former player Michael Strahan for missing games because of his neck injury and a strained groin.
These comments certainly elicited responses and comments from other players, fans and coaches, who supported both sides in the controversy. Many recognized the error in Pierce’s comments. While as a former NFL player he probably understands better than most what it means to decide whether to play or not when plagued with a lingering injury, his comments on such a well-publicized platform could get fans thinking that other slightly-injured players should get their butts off the injured reserve. How does an analyst have any legitimacy behind his comment on whether a player plays or not? Although players are getting paid beaucoup bucks to win games, they also have their futures to think about. Pierce’s and Strahan’s comments could start a negative trend of fans thinking that injuries aren’t serious unless a surgery is needed, which is not healthy for obvious reasons.
Again, an analyst’s job isn’t all that hard or special. So why is it necessary for ex-players to receive millions to sit and talk about a game they know inside and out? I guess they wouldn’t agree to be on the shows for anything less, but I’m pretty sure ESPN can find some other man in America who knows a lot about football and has an opinion about every play to sit behind a desk instead. Also, why do we need analysts who are specifically hired to discuss fantasy football? I’m pretty sure the people who have fantasy leagues can manage their teams without the aid of analysts telling them who to start.
However, there is still one group of people related to football that is slightly more annoying than the analysts: the TV announcers. But we can open that can of worms another day.