It was beyond time for CBS to do something. I’m in my early 40s and am probably among the younger people in the audience that remember Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason actually playing in the NFL.
The NFL Today felt dated and at times even disconnected from modern football. Even Nate Burleson, who has taken on a more prominent role in recent years, hasn’t been on the field in a decade. Bidding Simms and Esiason adieu and bringing Matt Ryan out of the booth and into the studio certainly makes The NFL Today feel a little more relevant, but does it actually make the show better?
CBS will now offer viewers James Brown and the quartet of Ryan, Burleson, Bill Cowher and JJ Watt during the pregame, postgame and halftime. I would argue that while Ryan proved himself a capable analyst, I never found him overly compelling. Actually, I don’t find anyone in the group particularly compelling.
The names and faces may be different, but the problem is still the same. I’m not convinced that the show is more than just background noise.
FOX built FOX NFL Sunday into what it is by hiring opinionated people and then letting the team marinate together. Sure, they cook now, but even before the show left its competition behind, there was a reason to tune in. Terry Bradshaw was larger than life, Howie Long was outspoken and opinionated, and Jimmie Johnson brought gravitas. The mixture proved it worked before people like Michael Strahan and Rob Gronkowski were added.
Even after a major changing of the guard, ESPN never lost sight of the fact that what brings eyeballs to Sunday NFL Countdown is unique perspectives. That’s why the current variation is built around Randy Moss and Rex Ryan.
CBS may have been missing that ingredient, but it never seemed to be because they didn’t have the guy. Boomer Esiason wouldn’t be on top of morning radio in New York for as long as he has if he were not compelling and capable of entertaining an audience. You could see his willingness to channel what the audience was thinking during halftime of the 2022 AFC Championship Game when CBS’s halftime show was drowned out by an on-field concert from country artist Walker Hays. For some reason, those types of moments were a treat and not the norm. It felt like Esiason was reigned in or being told not to do too much.
CBS’s problem is CBS. The whole network just feels like it’s operating in a time warp. Bombast is frowned upon or reigned in. In the case of the new lineup of The NFL Today, it feels like an effort was made to avoid it entirely.
Nate Burleson is great on the Nickelodeon games. He brings so much energy and really leans into the fun. The version of he we get on The NFL Today doesn’t feel especially different from who he is on CBS This Morning, a show that is meant to serve as background noise. That’s a problem, and for CBS, being comfortable with being background noise is a problem that feels all too common.
This new The NFL Today lineup feels milquetoast, but that’s kinda what CBS Sports does now. Its top broadcaster is bland. Its top college football broadcast felt like it was an afterthought. Even when it comes to the Final Four, the network farms being fun and interesting out to the Inside the NBA crew.
No one on the show is a problem individually. The problem is the combination of Brown, Burleson, Cowher, Ryan and Watt. Who can I count on to make me laugh or raise an eyebrow?
Matt Ryan is a capable analyst, but if he’s the quarterback on the show, shouldn’t the coach be someone like Pete Carrol? Nate Burleson is an excellent broadcaster, but if he’s the receiver on the show, shouldn’t CBS have filled the QB role with someone like Cam Newton or Ben Roethlisberger?
Kudos to CBS for recognizing that the age and distance away from their time on the field made The NFL Today crew feel disconnected from the game. The show had to get younger and it did. But getting younger is all it did. It doesn’t feel like the network solved its pregame show’s biggest problem.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
