The New England Patriots are hot right now. Well, let me qualify that. The New England Patriots football team is anything but hot. However, former New England Patriots are extremely hot in sports media. Speckled throughout the national football landscape are the likes of Teddy Bruschi, Randy Moss, Devin and Jason McCourty, and Tom Brady. Not to mention the numerous ex-Pats working in Boston and New England regional media. Two more former Patriots, Julian Edelman, a regular on FOX NFL Kickoff, and Rob Gronkowski, part of the NFL on FOX pregame team, have paired up for their own program. It’s simply called The Gronk and Jules Show.
The show airs on FS1, FOX Sports digital platforms, the NFL on FOX YouTube channel, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. The meat of the show lies in the personalities of Gronkowski and Edelman. They were not only two of the most prolific pass catchers in Patriots history, but also two of the more interesting personalities ever to grace Gillette Stadium.
That has translated well to television.
FOX promoted The Gronk and Jules Show as a program that would feature “unfiltered conversation.” Gronkowski and Edelman offer just that. The truth is, they have no choice. Neither host has a phony veneer or a stock TV attitude. They are who they are.
During their playing days, both Gronkowski and Edelman were viewed as the mischievous little brothers to the focused and serious Brady. Big brother is still helping his adopted siblings, as The Gronk and Jules Show is produced in conjunction with Shadow Lion, a creative studio founded by Brady.
Building Their Own Brand
Gronkowski and Edelman owe a lot to Brady in terms of their playing careers and statistics. But make no mistake: They are blazing their own trails in media.
If they handed out a most improved award for NFL pregame studio analysts, it would go to Gronkowski. The gregarious “Gronk” is still a work in progress, but so far this season, he is not just showing up, smiling, and doling out funny lines. He is actually providing insight as perhaps the best tight end in the history of the game.
Edelman seems to be a TV natural. His pleasant personality and penchant for humor work well with the FOX NFL Kickoff crew. Moreover, his Games with Names podcast continues to attract big-name guests from the sports and entertainment fields.
Edelman is a solid interviewer. In fact, in a recent solo edition of The Gronk and Jules Show, he offered a terrific long-form conversation with Bengals QB Joe Burrow. Edelman brings a relaxed, kid-next-door attitude to television. He is fun to watch and completely in his element.
The Gronk and Jules Show brings these two unique characters together. Every Monday, the duo looks at their “Six-Pack” of key games from the previous week’s schedule. Given that Gronkowski and Edelman are the hosts, it is surprising that they are not chugging an actual six-pack on the show.
This episode of The Gronk and Jules Show also featured producer/commentator Jack McCarthy, who brings trained broadcast professionalism to the proceedings. I like McCarthy’s passionate and upbeat introductions to each game. He gets the dialogue going, then sits back and lets the hosts do their thing.
While Gronkowski and Edelman bring star quality to the program, McCarthy is a necessary piece. He does a really nice job of bringing out their personalities while also demonstrating his own ability to talk ball.
Entertaining And Informative
Beneath their effusive personalities, Edelman and Gronkowski know the game of football and provide terrific X’s and O’s analysis. They also display the emotion that both showed as players. You could actually see the pain on both Gronkowski’s and Edelman’s faces as they talked about the Patriots’ 35-6 drubbing at the hands of the Jaguars last week. That’s what The Gronk and Jules Show is all about. Both men wear their football hearts on their respective sleeves.
After a cold open in which Edelman and Gronkowski bellow show headlines, viewers see black-and-white yearbook photos of the hosts, complete with a mustache drawn on Gronkowski and an eye patch on Edelman. This part of the open plays to the fact that both men are kids at heart and probably former class clowns.
The Gronk and Jules Show is more than just a football show. It is a personality show built around its hosts.
When FOX introduced the show in September, the network’s president and executive producer, Brad Zager, said, “Rob and Julian’s passion for football and natural chemistry from years of competing and winning at the highest level comes through to fans every time they are together. The Gronk and Jules Show is exactly the kind of premium, superstar athlete-driven, fun and informative content viewers have come to expect from FOX Sports.”
The three words that stand out from that quote are passion, chemistry, and fun.
That is how Gronkowski and Edelman played the game, and it is how The Gronk and Jules Show plays to viewers.
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