NFL Network presented the new edition of Good Morning Football from Los Angeles on Monday morning featuring the debut of new cast members Akbar Gbajiabiamila and Sherree Burruss. Jamie Erdahl, Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt were all in studio for the launch of the new program, which contains the traditional, two-hour edition on NFL Network followed by GMFB: Overtime on The Roku Channel.
When the show first took the air at 8 a.m. EST, longtime ring announcer Michael Buffer was on hand to introduce each member of the Good Morning Football cast as they ventured into the studio. Schrager entered first and was followed by Brandt, who tripped coming off the outside football field to the studio. Erdahl and Gbajabiamila followed, leading to high-fives and chest bumps between the cast as the program made its debut on the West Coast.
Award-winning musician and Kansas City Chiefs fan Melissa Etheridge recorded a new edition of the theme song that aired following Buffer’s introduction. After giving plaudits to the new intro and Buffer’s announcement leading into the show, Brandt addressed his fall entering the studio live on the show for the first time.
“You know what? They say in Major League Baseball, you can tell how a season’s going to go by the first batter of the year – if he doubles or strikes out,” Brandt articulated. “I don’t know what we take from that, but I full Looney Tunes banana-peeled, not intentional. I’m fine – no lumbar damage, no MRI – I feel great [and] I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Schrager articulated that Brandt probably planned his fall for several weeks while wearing a Los Angeles Rams jersey of former running back Eric Dickerson complete with new sneakers. Brandt then added that he ran across the entire country over four months, a point of conjecture made by Buffer, and exclaimed that he liked Idaho in particular.
“The people in Missouri tried to jump me because of the Chiefs stuff,” Brandt explained. “I’m like, ‘I know Peter,’ and they’re like, ‘Let him pass.’ They let me go right through Missouri – it was fantastic.”
Erdahl stated that people thought the program would perhaps drop bias towards the East Coast in moving to Los Angeles; however, the program started with discussion surrounding the New York Jets. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is working towards a return after suffering a season-ending Achilles injury on the first drive of the regular season last year. Schrager emphasized that while the team looks good, he learned his lesson and is not going to fall for it. In fact, he identified the key storyline surrounding the team as if fans are going to buy into the team again.
“The Jets, to me, are the biggest storyline going in because we press reset and it’s a redo,” Schrager said. “Everything about last year that we were excited about in August. Everything last year, from the Hall of Fame Game to Hard Knocks to Rodgers coming out with that flag, we can redo it. He’s a year older, a year wiser and I think this team’s better on paper.”
Later in the show, the program had a discussion about words or phrases that should not be used surrounding the game of football. Erdahl, a former sideline reporter while working for NESN in Boston, articulated that the parlance of saying, “Tell me about,” within an interview is something she wishes would come to an end. Brandt suggested that they say, “Talk about it” instead, something that Erdahl stated that she likes better.
“‘Coach, tell me about.’ Don’t do it,” Erdahl said. “You cannot start, ‘Tell me about,’ and then end it with a question. It’s physically impossible, it’s grammatically incorrect. Don’t do it.”
Schrager also revealed more parameters surrounding the NFL requiring in-game coach interviews beginning next season, something that was initially discovered this past weekend by Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. He divulged that it will not just include head coaches, but rather other members of the coaching staff, such as defensive coordinators, offensive coordinators or those on special teams. The team will get to make the selection, and he believes that there are rules allowing each coach to do it once per network.
“There has to be at least one per game from each team – a coach or a coordinator – interviewing with the sideline reporter,” Schrager said.
