NFL Network announced that Good Morning Football will make its return to the air on July 29 featuring new members of its cast in Akbar Gbajabiamila and Sherree Burruss. The program is moving to Los Angeles, Calif. from the NFL Network studios and will begin rehearsing next week, retaining hosts Jamie Erdahl, Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt in the process. Although Erdahl has relocated to the area, both Schrager and Brandt will join the show remotely on the East Coast and make in-studio appearances at times. Erdahl divulged these details and additional information about the new show, which will also include a two-hour GMFB: Overtime series on The Roku Channel and syndicated nationally, during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Tom Pelissero.
Erdahl conveyed her astonishment regarding the news that the show would be moving from New York City to Los Angeles. At the time, she was 36 weeks pregnant and stated that she was lucky not to have given birth while covering the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Members of the show found out about the cross-country move in early March, contributing to a challenging few months after Erdahl previously anticipated that the show would cover free agency and that she could enjoy vacation time and maternity leave.
“This was so not a direction, literally west, that I thought it could ever go,” Erdahl said. “I can only speak for myself that I just love my chair and the show so much and the position the show has within the NFL that I was going to do anything to stay a part of it, and that meant committing to the move before I had my third daughter [on] March 30,” Erdahl said, “and my entire maternity leave has been spent moving my family from New Jersey to Los Angeles.”
Because of the collaborative nature of the show, Erdahl conveyed that it has been a hard time with cast members having to make personal decisions. She is someone who likes to talk things through and was constantly thinking about how everyone was doing and what they would ultimately decide. Seeing the move affect people behind-the-scenes was difficult as well; however, she emphasized that the “health and the future of the show was kind of at risk.” Erdahl wanted the program to be able to move forward together and stay on the air, leading members to make these monumental choices.
The show will now air on NFL Network from 8 to 10 a.m. EST followed by a two-hour syndicated edition also available on The Roku Channel that ends at 12 p.m. EST. While the cast will remain the same in both editions, Erdahl recognizes that the program may resemble more of a talk show in its latter two hours rather than the nuanced football takes that will air on NFL Network. The program is the first-ever sports talk show to be put into national syndication, Erdahl expressed, something she classified as a “really cool flex to be a part of,” but also something that she will need to learn how to execute.
“My new teammate Akbar, who is like classically trained now in the talk show world, [is someone who] I’m so excited to sit next to him because Jason McCourty decided not to make the move with the show,” Erdahl said. “So Akbar’s going to be next to me every day, and I’m just so excited to learn from him and work with him, so I think it’s going to almost be a little broader in the second two hours where you’re going to see on Roku and in syndication.”
Although Schrager and Brandt will still be on the program, they will not be in studio on a daily basis, deviating from the in-person arrangement that took place in New York. Erdahl does not know how the dynamic of the show will change, but she is confident that in working with them over two football seasons, she can still read them well enough to extrapolate their strengths and bring entertainment in the program.
“I’m okay with those guys making the decision that they did because it was important for them to stay where they were in the capacity that their family life would have been affected, and I know that we’ll see them; they’ll keep the show alive,” Erdahl said. “I mean, those two in my opinion are the editorial north star of GMFB – Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt. The show can’t do much, I think, without their engine at times.”
