With regular-season play in the NFL rapidly approaching, The CW Network will premiere a new season of Inside the NFL. In the past the program was primarily driven by highlights and footage captured by NFL Films, but the show will now shift its focus on the forthcoming matchups. The returning members of the panel consist of host Ryan Clark with analysts Chris Long and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
The CW Network started broadcasting Inside the NFL last season after the show had moved across various networks in the ensuing years. The program originally aired on HBO for 31 seasons before moving to Showtime Sports, where it left in 2022 shortly before Paramount Global decided to shutter the operations of the division. Johnson, who played 11 years in the NFL as a wide receiver, will look to bring his perspective and acumen to the air.
“I say what I want to say, I have a viewpoint [and] I have an opinion,” Johnson explained. “It doesn’t change [with] regards to who’s around me and how they may feel about it, and that’s pretty much it. I stick to my talking points on what I believe in. Sometimes I allow my eyes to lie to me because I know what those players are going through.”
Johnson was a six-time Pro Bowl selection during his NFL career and someone who attracted media coverage, describing himself as magical behind the microphone. In fact, he considers himself one of the few commentators who does not hold back in the landscape and believes he provides a fair and lenient approach to his commentary.
“Not very many of us are seen, so doing that and also taking care of your business on the field, it makes the transition after football that much easier, and that was my thought process,” Johnson said. “What made it easy is that I was very good at what I did on the field, so even though I had a helmet on, the visibility and exposure for me was easy outside of the game.”
Joining Inside the NFL ahead of last season was a simple decision for Johnson as someone who is still around the game of football. As someone with comprehensive knowledge of the game, he safeguards against rambling to the viewing audience. The mindset of complexities within aspects of football is unnecessary, he states, affirming that it causes errors and facilitates mistakes.
“The game of football isn’t complex,” Johnson said. “It may seem that it is, but it’s a very simple format, and the way I explain [and] the way I talk about the game, it’s very, very simple, and as you get into Xs and Os, it can become complicated, but that’s not what we’re doing. We’re just talking about the game in its simplest form, and that art in itself isn’t complex. It can be, but that’s not where we’re taking it.”
Steve Menzel, who is entering his first year as a showrunner for Inside the NFL, recognizes that the program is a unique spot in being on Fridays and assimilating into a new format. The show will emphasize looking ahead while also containing segments where panelists can explore topics they are interested in. The challenge will be in merging the current elements and/or deft archives of NFL Films to pair with the talent to ultimately achieve its goal of presenting an informative and entertaining program. Johnson is embedded within the fabric of the venerated show that will honor its tradition while embracing innovation.
“I think last year, we found one of his strong suits were interviews, and he was great,” Menzel said. “I think Chad is immediately likable. I’ve never met anybody who had a negative reaction to Chad. He kind of brings a smile to your face, and in those interviews, I think he likes to kind of mess around and talk trash with some of the guests, but I think there’s a mutual respect there, and he’s got great stories too.”
Although Johnson primarily played for the Cincinnati Bengals, he did spend one year with the New England Patriots where he was coached by eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick. Earlier in the year, Belichick departed the Patriots organization after 24 seasons as its head coach and is taking part in several sports media endeavors, including co-producing and hosting his own podcast with Underdog Fantasy, appearing as a recurring guest on ESPN’s Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli and co-hosting the Let’s Go! podcast from SiriusXM. On top of that, Belichick is joining the team at Inside the NFL.
“Anything related to football with Bill Belichick in it is going to be a fit – it’s going to be a fit,” Johnson said. “He’s a little different than what most of us are used to, but now the world gets to see a different side of him that the players get to see. There are very few of us, and I’m one of them, who made him smile, and we have some great stories together [and] we had some great time together playing against each other and also me being a part of the team.”
Johnson articulated that it will be interesting for people to see Belichick outside of his concise demeanor in the setting of a press conference. The impression he emitted at times in public differed from what players gathered away from the cameras, and Johnson figures that he will make a strong transition into the space. The team at NFL Films will aim to make him comfortable and build off a previous Emmy Award-winning series he participated in that involved reflecting on some of the league’s best all-time teams. Having worked with Belichick before, the production team has a head start in understanding his proclivities, including the studio seating arrangement.
“The goal is to replicate that and really make sure he’s prepared and has everything that he needs, because really you make the correlation of the better prepared you are and the better you are going into either that game or that show day, the better the end result,” Menzel said. “…[H]e is a fountain of knowledge football wise, and [it] should be a fun watch this season.”
Entering a new episode of Inside the NFL, Johnson is going to ensure that he remains prepared and poised for the task at hand. Everyone on the panel is involved in other ventures across sports media and works to balance their time so they come in with a keen, precise understanding of the material.
Because of this arrangement, the production team at NFL Films ensures it retains perspicacity and concentration, optimizing their time with the on-air talent and possessing coherent communication. Over the last year, Johnson has grown his presence in the digital space as a member of the Nightcap podcast with Shannon Sharpe. The production is created through a partnership between Shay Shay Media and The Volume, and the postgame show consistently ranks in the upper echelon of podcasts in the country.
“We touch on things that other linear television shows can’t or podcasts can’t because they just wouldn’t be able to get away with it because we talk about life. The struggles, the ups, the downs, everything else,” Johnson elucidated. “It’s outside of football, so it’s like it’s not even a football show. It’s sports in the beginning – we hit on the stuff that went on, whether it be a game or not – but then we transition into something totally different, and that’s what people stay for. They don’t come for the sports [on] Nightcap; they come for the stories.”
Despite being a former member of the Patriots, Johnson is going to try and avoid becoming starstruck when Belichick enters the studio while remaining professional. At the same time, he is cognizant of the unique opportunity afforded to him being on the panel and will continue taking one day at a time. Arriving on the broadcasts recognizing what will be discussed and building rapport with Belichick, Clark and Long are integral facets of how the show can merit viewership and establish its refined format within the dynamic media ecosystem.
“I’ve been a student of the game on and off the field even though I made it look fun and entertaining,” Johnson said. “In order to do that; in order to play the way that I did play, as flamboyant and flashy as I did was, I had to prepare, [and] I had to study.”
The new season of Inside the NFL begins on Friday, Aug. 30 at 9 p.m. EST on The CW Network, which will air episodes on Fridays throughout the year. As everyone becomes more accustomed to the new format, Menzel is interested to discover how it will balance key conversation points from the week with creativity and maximizing the strength of the panel. Whereas the rundown generally tends to be predetermined in airing recaps and highlights, there is more ambiguity heading into the year and new challenges ahead for the team involved in the show.
“I hope we can create a smart football show that’s also able to have fun, and in my experience – in just pre-production [and] in our rehearsals – you can walk away from either a conversation or a rehearsal show learning something, especially from Coach or the other guys too,” Menzel said. “So I think if we can build a consistent audience that really enjoys watching a smart football show, that would be my main overall goal.”
From his experience as a standout player in the NFL, Johnson discerned that the top receivers across the league stand out and that there is something special about being the No. 1 option at this position for a team. Drawing a parallel to how personalities are able to succeed in sports media, salient aspects of such come down to identifying what sets oneself apart and working hard to garner prosperity and sustainability.
“‘What do you bring to the sports media world that’s different than anybody else?,’” Johnson said. “All you need is one niche. I’m not sure what that niche is, but you find it, you master it and that will get you – once you get in, you close the door behind you – and listen, the rest is history.”
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
