September 11, 2024 • 33 mins
On the latest NFL Players: Second Acts podcast, broadcasting legend Todd Blackledge joins Peanut and Roman. Todd has built a legacy as one of the greatest college football analysts ever, and he starts the conversation talking about how it started with six words that’s become his life’s mantra: “Work will win when wishing won’t.” Before branching into the media, Todd talks about being part of the legendary 1983 NFL Draft QB class. We also learn a lesser-known fact about Todd; his honor of being in the Academic All-American Hall of Fame. Todd also shares the two questions he aims to answer for fans during every game he broadcasts. And how does he think Tom Brady will do as an analyst? Tune to find out! All that, and more, in a conversation you don’t want to miss.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Todd black Ledge, a college football analyst with NBC Sports,
and this is the NFL Player's Second Acts Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you for tuning in on Peanut Tooman and this
is the NFL Players Second Act Podcast with me as
always my boy, room match my energy.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Bring it up. Let's be uplifted, come home, get excited. No, no,
you were excited.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I am excited. Guess you've been geeked all day. You've
been like the notes, and I want you to introduce
this next guy. Well, our next guest.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Well, okay, I will, I will thank first and foremost
of the Carolina Panthers for hosting us here at the
Carolina Panthers Vision Studio underneath the Bank of America Stadium,
right here in Charlotte, where we have a quote unquote
a local who now lives here and I'm not gonna
say where, but he lives here in the city of Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Probably a good thing.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
But I just I'm so excited, Peup, You're right, because
I just didn't know.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
He doesn't know this, how excited he was, how excited
Rome was to have this particular person on the show.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Rome's being geeked all day. I kidd Yes, so he
was in.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
The heart of the legendary nineteen eighty three NFL draft,
amazing draft, which I just didn't know. I was born
eighty two. I just didn't know, all right, how he
played quarterback in league for seven years with the Chiefs
and the Steelers. In that sense, it's going to be
a legendary, I mean absolutely legendary broadcasting career with ABC, CBS, ESPN,
(01:34):
and he's currently with NBC Sports. He's also an author
and a motivational speaker. He's had great quotable moments. Yes,
in his life. We're gonna get welcome in mister Todd Blackley.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Pleasure pleasure calling that I just know the voice.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
I had no idea.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Great to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
You have no idea how happy this man is to
have you on this podcast. He and I kid you not.
I'm trying to give your flowers. Rome has been raving
about She was like, man, I didn't.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Know, did you know that in nineteen I didn't know.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Well, you don't know. You have no idea.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
How old I feel knowing that I called some of
his games when he was playing in Alabama.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
And now we're doing this interview again.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
He's been geeked and is it really is an honor
to have you on a podcast now to be thank you.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
We appreciate you coming on all right, So first and foremost,
you know, I got before we get to the question
that we have written down, I just got to tell
you personally how much it means that, like you said,
I've got to know you and vern just in passing
over the years and even the time in Dallas when
I got to just sit down and just just talk
to you for fifteen minutes, how much that meant to
(02:47):
you know that you actually listened to me, that you
listen to other people and kind of pouring into me
as as a person that's doing the TV business being
in the media space now after a post football career
that I didn't even know that you had, had the
long lineage that you had, But for you to take
time out of your schedule to pour into somebody else,
that always means a lot. To always give back. Where
(03:07):
did you get that from? And how often do you
actually get that opportunity to look forward to doing that?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Well, I would have to go all the way back
to I mean just the way I was raised, you know,
I mean my dad was a football coach for forty years.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
So I grew up, you know, in a.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Very team mindset, and everything I did in every group
I'm a part of, and you know that whole idea
of just paying it forward, you know. I mean, so
I had people that spoke into me. And when the
early days of my career, I had a mentor who
was the first boss I ever had in TV, A
guy guy the name by the name of Guido Delia,
who is the guy who started the first white out
(03:40):
at Penn State. He was the guy, he was the
mastermind behind that.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
But he's been here.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
Was that, I want to say, not early nineties.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
I don't remember exactly when, but I first worked with him.
I first worked with him in uh, well, no, I'm sorry,
it would be early two thousands for the White House.
I first started working with him in the early nineties.
And but he just you know, really took me under
his wing and kind of taught me about the business.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
And really challenged me to move forward.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
And so I just have always you know, I've been
doing it a long time now. This this coming year
will be my thirty fourth year of calling college football games.
So I feel like I've learned a few things and
anything I can pass along, you know, I'm happy to
do that.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So you are a man of quotes, and as as
a kid, I want to read a quote to you
and tell me what this means to you. Work will
win when wishing won't.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
When you first heard that quote.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
My dad and I had it on a little placard
that I had right above my door in my bedroom
when I was in high school, you know, and it
was just what I saw every day before I left
my room. And it's just the idea that you know,
everybody wishes for good things to happen, or wishes to
be a great player, have a great team, or be
a part of something great, you know, but it takes work.
(04:55):
And so it's just the idea. It's very simple, kind
of catch you to remember the sixth w use but
work wins when wishing won't, you know. And so if
you want something, you got to be willing to work
for it.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And how has that helped you just throughout your career
in broadcasting, football, everything else.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Well, it obviously helped me, you know, as a player,
because you know, the higher you go and the more
competitive it gets, you know, you got to bring it
every day to have a job and to keep a job.
And then in broadcasting, which kind of like you. When
I first started, I wasn't sure I was gonna be
able to make it a career or not. I had
to take a very entry level position doing games for
(05:32):
the Big East television network, kind of a regional package,
and wasn't getting paid very much money. And fortunately I
had saved a little bit from playing, so I could
give it a couple of years to see if it
would develop. But I just worked at it, man, I
grind it, and and you know, I by the time
I got an opportunity with a network with ABC, I
had done three years of regional games. I had done
(05:54):
some NFL preseason games, and I felt like, okay, ABC
only offered me six games, and I said, I'm willing
to take a bet on myself that I've got enough
in the bank now and enough reps that I think
I can do this. And that six games became twelve
and the thing took off after that.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
And so another quote that I kind of got from
you just looking you up and maybe this is kind
of something you kind of poured into me and kind
of tell me what you think when I say it
is that it's a privilege to play it. That's what
I guess you told yourself when you were playing football,
but you probably use that in your day to day
life now or what you're doing as a broadcaster. It
seems like how you kind of kept it going.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, I do think it's a It was a privilege
to play, even if your career like my I wouldn't
say my NFL career was a great career. I mean,
it didn't go Everything didn't go the way I hoped
or planned or dreamed about, but it was still a privilege.
You know. It was a privilege for me to play
seven years when the average career length is about half that. Right.
It was a privilege to be a part of that
(06:53):
quarterback draft class in nineteen eighty three, you know, and
three of those guys are now in the Pro Football
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
But I was part of that.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
To work at a network level, you know, for as
long as I have now calling games, I would have
never dreamed that I would be doing that.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
But it's a privilege.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
And I think part of the way that I remind
myself of that is I don't care what the game is.
I've done semi final national championship games, you know, college
football playoffs. I treat every game the same way, whether
it's that or whether it's a game on paper that
doesn't look like much. My preparations the same, My energy
is the same. I approach to the meetings and what
(07:28):
the time I put in and how much film I watch.
I treat it the same way because I think it's
a privilege to do it.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Do you ever, I mean how often? I don't even
know if you can get to see these guys, but
the legendary eighty three quarterback class? Yeah, all right, do
you guys ever like take pride when we see each
other's like, you.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
Know we did that?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah? Yeah, we were hit Like.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
That's the one that everybody remind me to stay, weren't us?
You know, do you guys ever take pride or what
is that?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Well? Yeah, I mean you know there there was always
a little bit of a bond, you know. I mean
back from when we play played, most of us were
all in the AFC, so he kind of faced each
other and then I remember that probably the only time
that we were all together in one place. And I've
run into each one of them in different places, but
the only time we were all together. Is the Dolphins
(08:16):
had a retirement thing for Marino at the stadium, and
they brought all of us down there, all six of us,
and we played golf the day before, had a really
nice dinner at one of Dan's places, and and that
was really fun. But and I think that was the
first and only time that that all of us were
together for some kind of an event like that.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
It was crazy. He was the last one too, you know, right, Yeah,
And that was a fourteen No, it was twenty seven.
But I mean that class not even just quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Everybody, Yeah, a lot, oh yeah, how many?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
How many?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Off the top of your head, do you know?
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And maybe our production crew can figure us out how
many Hall of Famers were in that draft class.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Oh man, I don't even know. I don't even know. Okay,
I don't know. I just I just know.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Just my my roommate and best friend at the time,
Kurt Warner was running back and he went forth in
that draft to the Seahawks and you know, ended up
being a Pro Bowl player up there, so great.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Billy ray Smith went to the Chargers, I remember that,
and Dickerson. I mean, it was unbelievable. Yeah, it was
a bunch.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So I think one of the for me, one of
my one of the highlights of my career was like
when I knew I made it rookie year in the
end zone Randy Moss. I ended up getting to.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Pick you made it.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Picked as a rookie. This is when Moss was in
his prime. Snatched the ball. It's a home game. I'm
you know, Charles the nobody Tillman. No one knew who
I was. I'm from Louisiana, who and I made this
amazing play, right, One of the highlights of my career.
My question to you is, what was one of the
highlights of your career when you were with the Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah, so when I was with the Chiefs, you know,
first of all, let me take one step back. Yeah,
I mean the highlight of my career, probably the biggest
highlight was my senior at Penn State.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
When we won the National you know, so that that.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Was the primary thing when I went to the Chiefs,
I would say, Uh, the coolest memory for me it
was my second year and we were playing opening Day
in Pittsburgh and my dad was the offensive line coach
for the Steelers, and so I ended up being the starter.
The guy who was the starter, Bill Kenney, hurt his
thumb the last preseason game, so I became the starter
(10:31):
for Week one in Pittsburgh. So tons of friends and
family there, you know, my dad's coaching on the other side,
and we were able to win the game, and I
threw a touchdown to steppon Page. I actually ran a
touchdown on a naked bootleg, and so it was you know,
it was it was really a great experience for me
and and just you know, I felt like I was
ready for the moment. You know, it was my first
(10:52):
start in the NFL. Uh, it was against a really
good team in a hostile environment, and we came out
on top.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
So I want to ask another question about so you
said that was probably your your your senior year at
Penn State was probably like really the highlight, you know,
winning the national championship. So having played in one one
one and then calling some some championship games, how much
has it changed just from the media attention from when
you played till now and you know, twenty twenty four
(11:20):
with social media and you know, four K television and
and everything.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
I was like, also the rankings is completely different as well.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
How much does that change, Like it's changed dramatically. I mean,
just like you know, just like the Super Bowl has
gotten bigger and bigger and bigger, right, and more commercial
and more hype and more attention. So it's college football
and the College Football Playoff, you know, and now it's
expanding the twelve teams this year, so it's it's going
to be even more hyped up, you know.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
But it's great. I mean, I think it's great for
the game. You know.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
It just shows you how much of an appetite people,
particularly in this country have for the game of football
or pro football and for college football. But yeah, just
the you know, the the magnitude of the game and
the attention on it, the media, the social media, all
of that is so much different than it used to be.
And yeah, I mean, you know, when we played, for one,
(12:11):
everybody was still tied to bowl games, you know, And
it just played out that we went to the Sugar
Bowl as an independent.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
Penn State was not in the Big Ten. We were
an independent and.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
We were ranked number two and we got to play
Georgia who was ranked number one, who went undefeated and
they were committed to the Sugar Bowl and so it
ended up being a two versus one game for a
national championship.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So do you have any social media?
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Do you tweet you a little bit?
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (12:37):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I was just checking to just to make sure little Twitter,
a little Instagram.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I didn't say the man is smart.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
He can't. I'm gonna let you know.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I'm gonna sell you how smart he was. So this
is something that I didn't even know this existed. Yeah,
that one the academic Yeah here it is right here
is the Academic All American Hall of Fame. So you
got inducted, inducted into this in nineteen ninety seven when
nobody knew this.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
You graduated.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
You're our first guest home that's ever been so inducted into.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
An academic.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Graduated Phi Kappa beta with a three point eight gpa.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
And what was your major speech? Communication?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Speech communication? I didn't even know that existed. Did you
know existed? When they called you? Like, how did that
even come up?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Well I call this like, hey, you're so smart. You're
in the Hall of Fame. You're going in Like what
how I mean?
Speaker 5 (13:42):
I forget how I first found out. Probably our sports
information people got in touch with me, you know, or
former ones, And I.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Tell you what I I quickly did not feel like
I belonged when I got there, and the people that
was surround these other athletes were going in were like
brain surgeons and yeah, I mean incredible people. So it
was quite an honor to be a part of that
as well.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
We'll be back in a minute. How long time did
it take you post career you hang up the cleats?
You know, we all got our journey. I took a
whole year. I did absolutely nothing to really kind of decompress.
See I want Peanut went too a different one. He
went jumped into doing some broadcasting and some other things
in the avenues. How about you? How long did it
(14:23):
take you to hang up the cleats, like figure out
what you want to do and then say, you know what, broadcasting,
whatever that media space is, that's what I want to do,
especially when back it wasn't as popular as it is
in today's turn.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Weren't as many opportunities.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yes, too, right, So my last year playing was eighty
nine with the Steelers, and I wasn't sure if I
was done yet or not. I was still working out
and training and deciding whether I was going to go
to a camp or not. And at that time I
was living in Pittsburgh and my dad had gone through
(14:58):
a cancer surgery. He was coaching of the Steelers, and
he had to go through, you know, a cancer surgery,
and so it was kind of convenient that I could
be there to kind of help my mom and help
take care of my dad. And while I was in Pittsburgh,
I got offered to do a job in TV. It
was the Penn State Highlight Show, and they filmed it
in Pittsburgh. And the guy was talking about earlier, Guido Delia.
(15:20):
He owned a production company and his company did this
show and so we would film it on Saturday. I said, sure,
I'll do it. So we would film it on Saturdays,
and you know, they would bring the tapes in and
we would cut highlights and and so basically Guido taught
me about doing on camera. He taught me how to
do voiceovers, He taught me how to write copy, he
(15:42):
taught me how to you know, do all this kind
of stuff.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
And then that same year I got.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
A chance to do two games. So for whatever reason,
the opening game that year, Penn State was hosting Texas,
and no, no network picked it up. I have no
idea and so so the State Football Network produced it
and Guido was my very first producer and I did
that game and then I had another game midway through
(16:08):
the year when Penn State had a bye week and
it was another game IOWA at Miami that did not
get picked up.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
So did you actually get to go to in these places,
because you know, coming out of college, like we don't
actually get to go to tailgate. We don't even know
what that experience of a game was like. Yeah, so
did you get to experience this at all? Like how
you do?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Not? So when I did that Penn State Texas game,
that was the first time that I had been like
outside the stadium, I had experience in field at all.
But anyway, I did that Io win Miami game also,
and at the end of that year, I decided I
definitely would rather do games than studio, even.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
Though I liked it.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And so Guido helped me put a resume tape together
and we sent it around and I got two job offers.
I got an offer from ESPN and they but they
only offered me six games. And I got offered from
the Big East Telvision Network and they offered me eleven
and so I decided, you know, look, I need as
many games as I can get, and I was gonna
(17:07):
get a thousand dollars a game, So I knew it
wasn't going to be enough to call a career. But
I took the Big East job and did it for
three years. And even even in those first couple of years,
I still wasn't sure if I was done.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Or not or ready to hang it up.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
But when I got into doing it, I really liked it,
and I said, Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready to transition
and try to make this a career. But it took
three years to get an opportunity at a network where
I could say, okay, yeah, I can do this.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
So I think I did the broadcasting. I never went
to the boot camp. You went to the NFL's broadcast
boot camp and tremendous. I just was kind of winging
it when I when I tried the whole broadcasting thing,
and I don't think I did myself any justice because
I didn't have a GWEDO to kind of help me
out or give me guidance or just pushed me along
(17:58):
and give me some instruction. My question is you started
out in radio first, right.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Well kind of at the same time. It was probably
simultaneous that I did.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay, so why did Why did why?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
The broadcasting TV color commentary kind of broadcasting route versus radio.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So it's funny because and I didn't know this at
the time, but my senior year, after we won the
national championship and I was graduating in the spring, and
so I had a real light schedule. I had like
a couple you know.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
Independence back at Penn State has a schedule.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Well, yeah, I had a schedule. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
So but I did an independent study and one of
the things I did, I was on kind of the
little banquet circuit and was in New York a couple
of times, and I went and said sit down meetings
with somebody from ABC, NBC and CBS, and I wrote
my paper on what these network executives are looking for
in a color analyst. And at that time, I was
(18:59):
kind of thing, that's what I thought I might want
to do if I didn't play, or if I didn't coach.
And so I kind of wrote that, you know, and
tucked it away when it was done and didn't really
do anything with it until my career was over. But
it was always in the back of my head that
you know, I thought I would like that out You
guys probably do the same thing.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Man.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I remember when I was a kid, you know, just
playing out in the street, you know, and or playing
in the backyard and imitating myself, you know, I mean
just kind of call and play by play about what
I'm doing, you know, And so it kind of was
always a little bit of a natural thing that I
thought I'd like to do.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
So is there anything else that that Todd black Is
wants to accomplish in his career? You've accomplished so much.
You're areadyre on the board of uh of a couple
of different honors, You're on different boards, You're on you know,
your academic All American Hall of Famer. Like, you've accomplished
so many things. Is there anything else that you're looking
(19:57):
forward to trying to accomplish, you know, put on your bill.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You know, nothing that I could pinpoint right now and say,
you know, I definitely am aiming or you know, driving.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
To do this. I just want to keep doing this
for as long as I can keep calling games.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know. The change to NBC after seventeen years at
ESPN has been really kind of refreshing and uplifting. I mean,
you know, I'm sixty three years old. My partner, Noah Egle,
is twenty six so, and he's super talented and he's
going to be a superstar in this business. He's over
in Paris right now calling the basketball stuff, so I mean,
he's on the fast track.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
But it's it's been super it's come you know.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Yeah, it's fun for me, you know, to kind of
be there and be the voice of experience and and
the credibility and the relationship I have with coaches.
Speaker 5 (20:47):
So it's been it's been really really fun.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
What do you think about also switching conferences? Yeah, like
that's got to give you a little juice cause you
probably go to different campuses that you probably haven't been
to since you played as well.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
I mean, I so I've been doing it so long
that I've been to almost all these places. Anyway, when
I was with ESPN, because I was kind of doing
every conference right back then, so and then when a CBS,
I did the SEC only, you know, and now this
is the Big Ten only. But the Big Ten teams
are not unfamiliar to me. But you know, college football
(21:21):
has changed more in the last two or three years
than it did in the twenty seven thirty years before
that I've been involved in it, right, and so this
year every conference is different. There is no more PAC twelve.
The Big Ten has eighteen teams and you and it's
coast to coast from Oregon to Rutgers, New Jersey. You know,
you know, the SEC has got sixteen teams, The Big
(21:43):
twelve is added teams, the ACC has added teams from California.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
It's it's going to look completely different.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
And you've got a twelve team playoff and they're going
to start doing a revenue sharing thing along with the
nil stuff that's happening in college football. So it's sweeping
changes in college football, and I'm just kind of hanging
on by the coattails, right.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I think if I had to
call a game football right now, I could probably get
by and be Okay, you've been doing this ten twenty thirty,
Well you said thirty, yes, thirty four, thirty four years.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Is there a game or another sport that you think
you would want to switch over to versus just doing football?
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Not in place of you know, I mean, I don't
know that I would ever want to switch to a
different sport and leave football. You know, I love basketball.
I mean when I was growing up, one of the
stops along my dad's coaching journey was he was an
assistant coach at University Kentucky when I was in middle school.
Ye and I fell in love with Kentucky basketball, you know,
And so my dream would have been to go to
(22:50):
Kentucky and play basketball. Well, I wasn't quite big enough,
you know, or skilled enough to play at that level.
But I did coach basketball, you know. I was a
high school basketball coach for twelve years in Ohio, which
is one of the things I did in the off
season just to kind of scratch the coaching itch that
I had. And I thought about coaching, you know, there
(23:10):
were several times I thought about jumping into college football coaching,
but I just the broadcasting was just so good, and
the lifestyle was so good, and with young kids, it
was just, you know, coaching is a grind, man, that's
a hard way to go, and I knew it.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
This is a perfect segue to my question, which is,
what do you tell guys that want you maybe get
into more broadcasting with they're calling games, what kind of
advice could you give them to maybe how they get
into it. And then also once you get there, how
do you separate yourself or maintain your sense of greatness
or things that nature, Because I'd like to stay on
that track versus like going to the coaching because exactly
(23:49):
what you just said.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yeah, So first of all, I would tell people. And
here's one thing I did this past year when I
went to NBC. I went to the people at NBC.
I said, look, I got some time I get on
site on Thursday on Friday, if it fits with our
meeting schedule, if you set up something with any of
the communications school or broadcasting schools, you know on campus,
(24:11):
I'd love to sit down and just do a Q
and A.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
And just Rhyme does that with us. Yes, he talks
to the kids on campus.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
So I did that almost every week. And then Noah
joined me about halfway through. And that was great because
I mean, he he'd fit right in. He's just like
he just graduated, you know. But what I tell people
all the time is, you know, first of all, anything
you can do, any experience you can get, take it.
(24:39):
You know, if you're on college campus, if you can
do women's volleyball. If you can go do a high
school basketball game, anything you can do, do it. Try
to get it on tape, you know, and then try
to find somebody that's in the business that you respect,
that can give you some feedback, you know. And then
if it's a former player or something that is getting
(25:00):
and gets an opportunity.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
I tell everybody this.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Look, the first game I did, I got the best
advice I could ever get from a producer who had
produced Super Bowls, and he sat down with me and
he said, look, if you don't remember anything else, the
guy sitting next to you, his job, the play by
play guy, is to tell people what happened, who made
the tackle, who carried the ball, what the down and distances?
Speaker 5 (25:24):
He said, That's not your job.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Your job is not to repeat what he said or
to say something that everybody can see. Your job is
to try to answer the question why, okay, why did
this play work? Why didn't it work? Why is the
game going this way? Why is the momentum shifting? So
my whole career I've tried to do two things. Answer
the question why, which you can't do every play, but
(25:46):
I do it as often as I can, and say
it in a way that my wife would understand it,
because you're not just speaking to a bunch of former
players and coaches, right, it's a vast audience. So you
can still explain the game and give insight, but you
got to do it in a way that everybody could
understand it. And so, you know, that's really the way
I approach it. And then the other thing I would
(26:07):
tell everybody is you've got to be yourself. You know,
you've got to allow your personality to come through. You
can't try to sound like a broadcaster, you know, or
try to be somebody you're not. So do your homework,
be prepared, but then.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
Be relaxed enough to allow your personality to come through.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
We're going to take a short break and we'll be
back in a minute. Tom Brady is stepping into the
broadcasting seat this year for the first time. I would
assume he's kind of cold Turkey no preseason games.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
Yeah, but he's been I think they had him underneath
the shadows grinding the last year. Yeah. Yeah, but go ahead,
how do you think he will do?
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So it's funny I got kind of two parts of
that answer. So, first of all, I think he's probably
going to do really well. Yeah, you know, he's very
well spoken. He obviously knows the game. You know, he
sees he sees everything right, and I think he's a
good communicator. So I think he'll do well. I think
you're right. I think they have done some stuff with him.
(27:09):
I think he'll do some stuff before he does his
first major game to where he's comfortable in the booth.
So I think he'll do really well. The crazy thing
to me is, you know, I've gotten to be very
good friends with Greg Olsen. Now we're actually coaching together,
and uh.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
Oh, you're part of the dynamic game.
Speaker 5 (27:27):
I'm part of that staff.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
So yeah, that dynamic Greg.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
His dad who went nine state championships, Keithley, Me and
Jonathan Stewart, we're all there.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, what's the name of the team.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Charlotte Christians is the most dynamic coaching staff in history.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Even know I even know about the nineteen eighty three
draft class.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
Probably not. They probably know a little bit about the
guys that just stopped playing.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
That's anyway.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I was just gonna say, you know, he's we've got
to be friends, and he's phenomenal at what he does.
I mean, you know, he just won an Emmy as
the Best analyst last year, and he's getting bumped down
to the number two team, which is but I think
he kind of knew it was coming, you know when
they hired Tom and Tom sat out last year. Uh,
and Greg will be fine, but he's terrific at what
(28:27):
he does.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I gotta go ahead, No, no, no, you fine?
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Are you trying to copy to me? Right now? All right,
we're gonna get into some fun questions too. Our wins
a quarterback stats are wins?
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (28:46):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I mean, look, they keep scoring, right, so the ultimately
winning games is you know, I think the bottom line
number that matters the most, you know, I mean I
don't obviously stats people do a lot of stuff with stats,
but at.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
The end of the day, it's do you win? Do
you get your team in the end zone? Do you win?
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Shout out to my boy Greg McElroy because that's that's
his his ultimate stat.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Yeah, okay, Uh Mount Rushmore? Who is on your personal
Mount Rushmore of influence? You get four? You've had a
tremendous career.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
I wanted to ask. I wanted to ask that other
one before go ahead.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Sorry, Well, since you say it like that.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Why I want to I want to know your best
cities in places to eat on the road because like
I go, I want to know because I need to.
I need to heat. I need those your communications. I'm
sorry about that you, that was I needed. I apologize you.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Does your partner do that to you?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
I needed asked the question that I apologize, I needed it.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
But why you Just I'll.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Get you a list. It's too hard for me to
come up with right now. Man, there's too many, so
many great ones.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
All right, good, yeah, I quit, all right, I'll walk
off the set.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
I will come back.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Just you got thirty you got Look, you got thirty
four years of just broadcasting, legendary, eighty three draft class,
great high school career, great college career, NFL career.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
You've had help.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
Along the way? Oh yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
If you could pick four people that have helped you
along the way and just get you to where you
are today in life, who would those four people be?
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Well? Uh, so I would say my dad is one
definitely been a strong influence. Joe paterno Is another one
was a very strong influence in my life. Uh for
the time I was at Penn State. The guy mentioned
Guido Delia, you know, as far as my broadcasting career
and my development as a as an analyst, he's definitely one.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
And then.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
So I'm gonna give you, you know, one of those
kind of political answers on the fourth one. I mean,
it's it's hard for me to pick one, but I
have worked with so many great partners that have shaped me.
I mean I worked with Vern Lundquist, I worked with
Brad Nessler. I worked with Sean McDonough, I worked with
Mike Patrick, I worked with Mike Tirico. I mean, those
(31:16):
five guys are as good as anybody that's ever done
it right, and I had the privilege of working with them,
and each one of them helped me to get better
and to elevate what I do. So I would put
some combination of those five guys on that last face.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
So it's a non people.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
I love that. I mean, you're right, your successor or
the people that are around you that all helped so much.
And I would thank you, Todd. I told pena excite
I was to to get up here to you, and.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, like once I gotten a huge compliment to you, sir,
once I did more.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
I just had no idea and I apologize for that,
but I love you for that because you you let
me know that I had no idea. Yeah, and that's
by the way that you portrayed yourself and carried yourself
and how interested you were in what I was trying
to do and the questions that I have for you
at the time. So thank you for that. And also
another quote, great quote that came from you from your
guy Joe Paterna, who's on your Mount Rushmore, and everybody
(32:16):
should listen to this because this is great. Success is
never final and failure is never fatal. So it's never
over until you give up on yourself. So thank you
for that. Man. A lot of people need that. We
appreciate that, and I got that from you, So thank.
Speaker 5 (32:30):
You, thank you. Thanks for having me. Guys, appreciate one.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Thanks for blessing us, really blessing this man, because I
feel like when you gave the advice, he was really talking.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
To him that I needed it. Also needed them cities
and with the food. But it's all good. We'll get
that later.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
We will get that later. Appreciate you. I'm peanut, that's wrong.
This is the NFL Player Saganax podcast. Check us out
on our NFL YouTube channel, Share, Like, subscribe, follow, leave
a comment, tell a friend, and tell her friend to
tell her friends. All right, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio app check
us out, Peanuts, NFL Second Play, NFL say.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Yeah, just say it. You got it.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I'm tongue twisted right now. NFL Player, Second Acts Podcast.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
We out.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
But before we get out, though, Thomas, don't do your
head like that.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Every time we make these mistakes. Our producer, Thomas, he's
in the back, like rolling around, and I wish we
had a cameraon to see his face because he is.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Just oh, he's living right now. But it's okay.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
We make mistakes behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
We d in it, we out.
I'm Todd black Ledge, a college football analyst with NBC Sports,
and this is the NFL Player's Second Acts Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you for tuning in on Peanut Tooman and this
is the NFL Players Second Act Podcast with me as
always my boy, room match my energy.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Bring it up. Let's be uplifted, come home, get excited. No, no,
you were excited.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I am excited. Guess you've been geeked all day. You've
been like the notes, and I want you to introduce
this next guy. Well, our next guest.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Well, okay, I will, I will thank first and foremost
of the Carolina Panthers for hosting us here at the
Carolina Panthers Vision Studio underneath the Bank of America Stadium,
right here in Charlotte, where we have a quote unquote
a local who now lives here and I'm not gonna
say where, but he lives here in the city of Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Probably a good thing.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
But I just I'm so excited, Peup, You're right, because
I just didn't know.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
He doesn't know this, how excited he was, how excited
Rome was to have this particular person on the show.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Rome's being geeked all day. I kidd Yes, so he
was in.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
The heart of the legendary nineteen eighty three NFL draft,
amazing draft, which I just didn't know. I was born
eighty two. I just didn't know, all right, how he
played quarterback in league for seven years with the Chiefs
and the Steelers. In that sense, it's going to be
a legendary, I mean absolutely legendary broadcasting career with ABC, CBS, ESPN,
(01:34):
and he's currently with NBC Sports. He's also an author
and a motivational speaker. He's had great quotable moments. Yes,
in his life. We're gonna get welcome in mister Todd Blackley.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Pleasure pleasure calling that I just know the voice.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
I had no idea.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Great to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
You have no idea how happy this man is to
have you on this podcast. He and I kid you not.
I'm trying to give your flowers. Rome has been raving
about She was like, man, I didn't.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Know, did you know that in nineteen I didn't know.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Well, you don't know. You have no idea.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
How old I feel knowing that I called some of
his games when he was playing in Alabama.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
And now we're doing this interview again.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
He's been geeked and is it really is an honor
to have you on a podcast now to be thank you.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
We appreciate you coming on all right, So first and foremost,
you know, I got before we get to the question
that we have written down, I just got to tell
you personally how much it means that, like you said,
I've got to know you and vern just in passing
over the years and even the time in Dallas when
I got to just sit down and just just talk
to you for fifteen minutes, how much that meant to
(02:47):
you know that you actually listened to me, that you
listen to other people and kind of pouring into me
as as a person that's doing the TV business being
in the media space now after a post football career
that I didn't even know that you had, had the
long lineage that you had, But for you to take
time out of your schedule to pour into somebody else,
that always means a lot. To always give back. Where
(03:07):
did you get that from? And how often do you
actually get that opportunity to look forward to doing that?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Well, I would have to go all the way back
to I mean just the way I was raised, you know,
I mean my dad was a football coach for forty years.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
So I grew up, you know, in a.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Very team mindset, and everything I did in every group
I'm a part of, and you know that whole idea
of just paying it forward, you know. I mean, so
I had people that spoke into me. And when the
early days of my career, I had a mentor who
was the first boss I ever had in TV, A
guy guy the name by the name of Guido Delia,
who is the guy who started the first white out
(03:40):
at Penn State. He was the guy, he was the
mastermind behind that.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
But he's been here.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
Was that, I want to say, not early nineties.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
I don't remember exactly when, but I first worked with him.
I first worked with him in uh, well, no, I'm sorry,
it would be early two thousands for the White House.
I first started working with him in the early nineties.
And but he just you know, really took me under
his wing and kind of taught me about the business.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
And really challenged me to move forward.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
And so I just have always you know, I've been
doing it a long time now. This this coming year
will be my thirty fourth year of calling college football games.
So I feel like I've learned a few things and
anything I can pass along, you know, I'm happy to
do that.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So you are a man of quotes, and as as
a kid, I want to read a quote to you
and tell me what this means to you. Work will
win when wishing won't.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
When you first heard that quote.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
My dad and I had it on a little placard
that I had right above my door in my bedroom
when I was in high school, you know, and it
was just what I saw every day before I left
my room. And it's just the idea that you know,
everybody wishes for good things to happen, or wishes to
be a great player, have a great team, or be
a part of something great, you know, but it takes work.
(04:55):
And so it's just the idea. It's very simple, kind
of catch you to remember the sixth w use but
work wins when wishing won't, you know. And so if
you want something, you got to be willing to work
for it.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And how has that helped you just throughout your career
in broadcasting, football, everything else.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Well, it obviously helped me, you know, as a player,
because you know, the higher you go and the more
competitive it gets, you know, you got to bring it
every day to have a job and to keep a job.
And then in broadcasting, which kind of like you. When
I first started, I wasn't sure I was gonna be
able to make it a career or not. I had
to take a very entry level position doing games for
(05:32):
the Big East television network, kind of a regional package,
and wasn't getting paid very much money. And fortunately I
had saved a little bit from playing, so I could
give it a couple of years to see if it
would develop. But I just worked at it, man, I
grind it, and and you know, I by the time
I got an opportunity with a network with ABC, I
had done three years of regional games. I had done
(05:54):
some NFL preseason games, and I felt like, okay, ABC
only offered me six games, and I said, I'm willing
to take a bet on myself that I've got enough
in the bank now and enough reps that I think
I can do this. And that six games became twelve
and the thing took off after that.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
And so another quote that I kind of got from
you just looking you up and maybe this is kind
of something you kind of poured into me and kind
of tell me what you think when I say it
is that it's a privilege to play it. That's what
I guess you told yourself when you were playing football,
but you probably use that in your day to day
life now or what you're doing as a broadcaster. It
seems like how you kind of kept it going.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, I do think it's a It was a privilege
to play, even if your career like my I wouldn't
say my NFL career was a great career. I mean,
it didn't go Everything didn't go the way I hoped
or planned or dreamed about, but it was still a privilege.
You know. It was a privilege for me to play
seven years when the average career length is about half that. Right.
It was a privilege to be a part of that
(06:53):
quarterback draft class in nineteen eighty three, you know, and
three of those guys are now in the Pro Football
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
But I was part of that.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
To work at a network level, you know, for as
long as I have now calling games, I would have
never dreamed that I would be doing that.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
But it's a privilege.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
And I think part of the way that I remind
myself of that is I don't care what the game is.
I've done semi final national championship games, you know, college
football playoffs. I treat every game the same way, whether
it's that or whether it's a game on paper that
doesn't look like much. My preparations the same, My energy
is the same. I approach to the meetings and what
(07:28):
the time I put in and how much film I watch.
I treat it the same way because I think it's
a privilege to do it.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Do you ever, I mean how often? I don't even
know if you can get to see these guys, but
the legendary eighty three quarterback class? Yeah, all right, do
you guys ever like take pride when we see each
other's like, you.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
Know we did that?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah? Yeah, we were hit Like.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
That's the one that everybody remind me to stay, weren't us?
You know, do you guys ever take pride or what
is that?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Well? Yeah, I mean you know there there was always
a little bit of a bond, you know. I mean
back from when we play played, most of us were
all in the AFC, so he kind of faced each
other and then I remember that probably the only time
that we were all together in one place. And I've
run into each one of them in different places, but
the only time we were all together. Is the Dolphins
(08:16):
had a retirement thing for Marino at the stadium, and
they brought all of us down there, all six of us,
and we played golf the day before, had a really
nice dinner at one of Dan's places, and and that
was really fun. But and I think that was the
first and only time that that all of us were
together for some kind of an event like that.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
It was crazy. He was the last one too, you know, right, Yeah,
And that was a fourteen No, it was twenty seven.
But I mean that class not even just quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Everybody, Yeah, a lot, oh yeah, how many?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
How many?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Off the top of your head, do you know?
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And maybe our production crew can figure us out how
many Hall of Famers were in that draft class.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Oh man, I don't even know. I don't even know. Okay,
I don't know. I just I just know.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Just my my roommate and best friend at the time,
Kurt Warner was running back and he went forth in
that draft to the Seahawks and you know, ended up
being a Pro Bowl player up there, so great.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Billy ray Smith went to the Chargers, I remember that,
and Dickerson. I mean, it was unbelievable. Yeah, it was
a bunch.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So I think one of the for me, one of
my one of the highlights of my career was like
when I knew I made it rookie year in the
end zone Randy Moss. I ended up getting to.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Pick you made it.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Picked as a rookie. This is when Moss was in
his prime. Snatched the ball. It's a home game. I'm
you know, Charles the nobody Tillman. No one knew who
I was. I'm from Louisiana, who and I made this
amazing play, right, One of the highlights of my career.
My question to you is, what was one of the
highlights of your career when you were with the Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah, so when I was with the Chiefs, you know,
first of all, let me take one step back. Yeah,
I mean the highlight of my career, probably the biggest
highlight was my senior at Penn State.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
When we won the National you know, so that that.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Was the primary thing when I went to the Chiefs,
I would say, Uh, the coolest memory for me it
was my second year and we were playing opening Day
in Pittsburgh and my dad was the offensive line coach
for the Steelers, and so I ended up being the starter.
The guy who was the starter, Bill Kenney, hurt his
thumb the last preseason game, so I became the starter
(10:31):
for Week one in Pittsburgh. So tons of friends and
family there, you know, my dad's coaching on the other side,
and we were able to win the game, and I
threw a touchdown to steppon Page. I actually ran a
touchdown on a naked bootleg, and so it was you know,
it was it was really a great experience for me
and and just you know, I felt like I was
ready for the moment. You know, it was my first
(10:52):
start in the NFL. Uh, it was against a really
good team in a hostile environment, and we came out
on top.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
So I want to ask another question about so you
said that was probably your your your senior year at
Penn State was probably like really the highlight, you know,
winning the national championship. So having played in one one
one and then calling some some championship games, how much
has it changed just from the media attention from when
you played till now and you know, twenty twenty four
(11:20):
with social media and you know, four K television and
and everything.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
I was like, also the rankings is completely different as well.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
How much does that change, Like it's changed dramatically. I mean,
just like you know, just like the Super Bowl has
gotten bigger and bigger and bigger, right, and more commercial
and more hype and more attention. So it's college football
and the College Football Playoff, you know, and now it's
expanding the twelve teams this year, so it's it's going
to be even more hyped up, you know.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
But it's great. I mean, I think it's great for
the game. You know.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
It just shows you how much of an appetite people,
particularly in this country have for the game of football
or pro football and for college football. But yeah, just
the you know, the the magnitude of the game and
the attention on it, the media, the social media, all
of that is so much different than it used to be.
And yeah, I mean, you know, when we played, for one,
(12:11):
everybody was still tied to bowl games, you know, And
it just played out that we went to the Sugar
Bowl as an independent.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
Penn State was not in the Big Ten. We were
an independent and.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
We were ranked number two and we got to play
Georgia who was ranked number one, who went undefeated and
they were committed to the Sugar Bowl and so it
ended up being a two versus one game for a
national championship.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So do you have any social media?
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Do you tweet you a little bit?
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (12:37):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I was just checking to just to make sure little Twitter,
a little Instagram.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I didn't say the man is smart.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
He can't. I'm gonna let you know.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I'm gonna sell you how smart he was. So this
is something that I didn't even know this existed. Yeah,
that one the academic Yeah here it is right here
is the Academic All American Hall of Fame. So you
got inducted, inducted into this in nineteen ninety seven when
nobody knew this.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
You graduated.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
You're our first guest home that's ever been so inducted into.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
An academic.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Graduated Phi Kappa beta with a three point eight gpa.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
And what was your major speech? Communication?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Speech communication? I didn't even know that existed. Did you
know existed? When they called you? Like, how did that
even come up?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Well I call this like, hey, you're so smart. You're
in the Hall of Fame. You're going in Like what
how I mean?
Speaker 5 (13:42):
I forget how I first found out. Probably our sports
information people got in touch with me, you know, or
former ones, And I.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Tell you what I I quickly did not feel like
I belonged when I got there, and the people that
was surround these other athletes were going in were like
brain surgeons and yeah, I mean incredible people. So it
was quite an honor to be a part of that
as well.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
We'll be back in a minute. How long time did
it take you post career you hang up the cleats?
You know, we all got our journey. I took a
whole year. I did absolutely nothing to really kind of decompress.
See I want Peanut went too a different one. He
went jumped into doing some broadcasting and some other things
in the avenues. How about you? How long did it
(14:23):
take you to hang up the cleats, like figure out
what you want to do and then say, you know what, broadcasting,
whatever that media space is, that's what I want to do,
especially when back it wasn't as popular as it is
in today's turn.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Weren't as many opportunities.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yes, too, right, So my last year playing was eighty
nine with the Steelers, and I wasn't sure if I
was done yet or not. I was still working out
and training and deciding whether I was going to go
to a camp or not. And at that time I
was living in Pittsburgh and my dad had gone through
(14:58):
a cancer surgery. He was coaching of the Steelers, and
he had to go through, you know, a cancer surgery,
and so it was kind of convenient that I could
be there to kind of help my mom and help
take care of my dad. And while I was in Pittsburgh,
I got offered to do a job in TV. It
was the Penn State Highlight Show, and they filmed it
in Pittsburgh. And the guy was talking about earlier, Guido Delia.
(15:20):
He owned a production company and his company did this
show and so we would film it on Saturday. I said, sure,
I'll do it. So we would film it on Saturdays,
and you know, they would bring the tapes in and
we would cut highlights and and so basically Guido taught
me about doing on camera. He taught me how to
do voiceovers, He taught me how to write copy, he
(15:42):
taught me how to you know, do all this kind
of stuff.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
And then that same year I got.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
A chance to do two games. So for whatever reason,
the opening game that year, Penn State was hosting Texas,
and no, no network picked it up. I have no
idea and so so the State Football Network produced it
and Guido was my very first producer and I did
that game and then I had another game midway through
(16:08):
the year when Penn State had a bye week and
it was another game IOWA at Miami that did not
get picked up.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
So did you actually get to go to in these places,
because you know, coming out of college, like we don't
actually get to go to tailgate. We don't even know
what that experience of a game was like. Yeah, so
did you get to experience this at all? Like how
you do?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Not? So when I did that Penn State Texas game,
that was the first time that I had been like
outside the stadium, I had experience in field at all.
But anyway, I did that Io win Miami game also,
and at the end of that year, I decided I
definitely would rather do games than studio, even.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
Though I liked it.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And so Guido helped me put a resume tape together
and we sent it around and I got two job offers.
I got an offer from ESPN and they but they
only offered me six games. And I got offered from
the Big East Telvision Network and they offered me eleven
and so I decided, you know, look, I need as
many games as I can get, and I was gonna
(17:07):
get a thousand dollars a game, So I knew it
wasn't going to be enough to call a career. But
I took the Big East job and did it for
three years. And even even in those first couple of years,
I still wasn't sure if I was done.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Or not or ready to hang it up.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
But when I got into doing it, I really liked it,
and I said, Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready to transition
and try to make this a career. But it took
three years to get an opportunity at a network where
I could say, okay, yeah, I can do this.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
So I think I did the broadcasting. I never went
to the boot camp. You went to the NFL's broadcast
boot camp and tremendous. I just was kind of winging
it when I when I tried the whole broadcasting thing,
and I don't think I did myself any justice because
I didn't have a GWEDO to kind of help me
out or give me guidance or just pushed me along
(17:58):
and give me some instruction. My question is you started
out in radio first, right.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Well kind of at the same time. It was probably
simultaneous that I did.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay, so why did Why did why?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
The broadcasting TV color commentary kind of broadcasting route versus radio.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So it's funny because and I didn't know this at
the time, but my senior year, after we won the
national championship and I was graduating in the spring, and
so I had a real light schedule. I had like
a couple you know.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
Independence back at Penn State has a schedule.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Well, yeah, I had a schedule. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
So but I did an independent study and one of
the things I did, I was on kind of the
little banquet circuit and was in New York a couple
of times, and I went and said sit down meetings
with somebody from ABC, NBC and CBS, and I wrote
my paper on what these network executives are looking for
in a color analyst. And at that time, I was
(18:59):
kind of thing, that's what I thought I might want
to do if I didn't play, or if I didn't coach.
And so I kind of wrote that, you know, and
tucked it away when it was done and didn't really
do anything with it until my career was over. But
it was always in the back of my head that
you know, I thought I would like that out You
guys probably do the same thing.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Man.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I remember when I was a kid, you know, just
playing out in the street, you know, and or playing
in the backyard and imitating myself, you know, I mean
just kind of call and play by play about what
I'm doing, you know, And so it kind of was
always a little bit of a natural thing that I
thought I'd like to do.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
So is there anything else that that Todd black Is
wants to accomplish in his career? You've accomplished so much.
You're areadyre on the board of uh of a couple
of different honors, You're on different boards, You're on you know,
your academic All American Hall of Famer. Like, you've accomplished
so many things. Is there anything else that you're looking
(19:57):
forward to trying to accomplish, you know, put on your bill.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You know, nothing that I could pinpoint right now and say,
you know, I definitely am aiming or you know, driving.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
To do this. I just want to keep doing this
for as long as I can keep calling games.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know. The change to NBC after seventeen years at
ESPN has been really kind of refreshing and uplifting. I mean,
you know, I'm sixty three years old. My partner, Noah Egle,
is twenty six so, and he's super talented and he's
going to be a superstar in this business. He's over
in Paris right now calling the basketball stuff, so I mean,
he's on the fast track.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
But it's it's been super it's come you know.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Yeah, it's fun for me, you know, to kind of
be there and be the voice of experience and and
the credibility and the relationship I have with coaches.
Speaker 5 (20:47):
So it's been it's been really really fun.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
What do you think about also switching conferences? Yeah, like
that's got to give you a little juice cause you
probably go to different campuses that you probably haven't been
to since you played as well.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
I mean, I so I've been doing it so long
that I've been to almost all these places. Anyway, when
I was with ESPN, because I was kind of doing
every conference right back then, so and then when a CBS,
I did the SEC only, you know, and now this
is the Big Ten only. But the Big Ten teams
are not unfamiliar to me. But you know, college football
(21:21):
has changed more in the last two or three years
than it did in the twenty seven thirty years before
that I've been involved in it, right, and so this
year every conference is different. There is no more PAC twelve.
The Big Ten has eighteen teams and you and it's
coast to coast from Oregon to Rutgers, New Jersey. You know,
you know, the SEC has got sixteen teams, The Big
(21:43):
twelve is added teams, the ACC has added teams from California.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
It's it's going to look completely different.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
And you've got a twelve team playoff and they're going
to start doing a revenue sharing thing along with the
nil stuff that's happening in college football. So it's sweeping
changes in college football, and I'm just kind of hanging
on by the coattails, right.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I think if I had to
call a game football right now, I could probably get
by and be Okay, you've been doing this ten twenty thirty,
Well you said thirty, yes, thirty four, thirty four years.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Is there a game or another sport that you think
you would want to switch over to versus just doing football?
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Not in place of you know, I mean, I don't
know that I would ever want to switch to a
different sport and leave football. You know, I love basketball.
I mean when I was growing up, one of the
stops along my dad's coaching journey was he was an
assistant coach at University Kentucky when I was in middle school.
Ye and I fell in love with Kentucky basketball, you know,
And so my dream would have been to go to
(22:50):
Kentucky and play basketball. Well, I wasn't quite big enough,
you know, or skilled enough to play at that level.
But I did coach basketball, you know. I was a
high school basketball coach for twelve years in Ohio, which
is one of the things I did in the off
season just to kind of scratch the coaching itch that
I had. And I thought about coaching, you know, there
(23:10):
were several times I thought about jumping into college football coaching,
but I just the broadcasting was just so good, and
the lifestyle was so good, and with young kids, it
was just, you know, coaching is a grind, man, that's
a hard way to go, and I knew it.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
This is a perfect segue to my question, which is,
what do you tell guys that want you maybe get
into more broadcasting with they're calling games, what kind of
advice could you give them to maybe how they get
into it. And then also once you get there, how
do you separate yourself or maintain your sense of greatness
or things that nature, Because I'd like to stay on
that track versus like going to the coaching because exactly
(23:49):
what you just said.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yeah, So first of all, I would tell people. And
here's one thing I did this past year when I
went to NBC. I went to the people at NBC.
I said, look, I got some time I get on
site on Thursday on Friday, if it fits with our
meeting schedule, if you set up something with any of
the communications school or broadcasting schools, you know on campus,
(24:11):
I'd love to sit down and just do a Q
and A.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
And just Rhyme does that with us. Yes, he talks
to the kids on campus.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
So I did that almost every week. And then Noah
joined me about halfway through. And that was great because
I mean, he he'd fit right in. He's just like
he just graduated, you know. But what I tell people
all the time is, you know, first of all, anything
you can do, any experience you can get, take it.
(24:39):
You know, if you're on college campus, if you can
do women's volleyball. If you can go do a high
school basketball game, anything you can do, do it. Try
to get it on tape, you know, and then try
to find somebody that's in the business that you respect,
that can give you some feedback, you know. And then
if it's a former player or something that is getting
(25:00):
and gets an opportunity.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
I tell everybody this.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Look, the first game I did, I got the best
advice I could ever get from a producer who had
produced Super Bowls, and he sat down with me and
he said, look, if you don't remember anything else, the
guy sitting next to you, his job, the play by
play guy, is to tell people what happened, who made
the tackle, who carried the ball, what the down and distances?
Speaker 5 (25:24):
He said, That's not your job.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Your job is not to repeat what he said or
to say something that everybody can see. Your job is
to try to answer the question why, okay, why did
this play work? Why didn't it work? Why is the
game going this way? Why is the momentum shifting? So
my whole career I've tried to do two things. Answer
the question why, which you can't do every play, but
(25:46):
I do it as often as I can, and say
it in a way that my wife would understand it,
because you're not just speaking to a bunch of former
players and coaches, right, it's a vast audience. So you
can still explain the game and give insight, but you
got to do it in a way that everybody could
understand it. And so, you know, that's really the way
I approach it. And then the other thing I would
(26:07):
tell everybody is you've got to be yourself. You know,
you've got to allow your personality to come through. You
can't try to sound like a broadcaster, you know, or
try to be somebody you're not. So do your homework,
be prepared, but then.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
Be relaxed enough to allow your personality to come through.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
We're going to take a short break and we'll be
back in a minute. Tom Brady is stepping into the
broadcasting seat this year for the first time. I would
assume he's kind of cold Turkey no preseason games.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
Yeah, but he's been I think they had him underneath
the shadows grinding the last year. Yeah. Yeah, but go ahead,
how do you think he will do?
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So it's funny I got kind of two parts of
that answer. So, first of all, I think he's probably
going to do really well. Yeah, you know, he's very
well spoken. He obviously knows the game. You know, he
sees he sees everything right, and I think he's a
good communicator. So I think he'll do well. I think
you're right. I think they have done some stuff with him.
(27:09):
I think he'll do some stuff before he does his
first major game to where he's comfortable in the booth.
So I think he'll do really well. The crazy thing
to me is, you know, I've gotten to be very
good friends with Greg Olsen. Now we're actually coaching together,
and uh.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
Oh, you're part of the dynamic game.
Speaker 5 (27:27):
I'm part of that staff.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
So yeah, that dynamic Greg.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
His dad who went nine state championships, Keithley, Me and
Jonathan Stewart, we're all there.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Yeah, what's the name of the team.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Charlotte Christians is the most dynamic coaching staff in history.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Even know I even know about the nineteen eighty three
draft class.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
Probably not. They probably know a little bit about the
guys that just stopped playing.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
That's anyway.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
I was just gonna say, you know, he's we've got
to be friends, and he's phenomenal at what he does.
I mean, you know, he just won an Emmy as
the Best analyst last year, and he's getting bumped down
to the number two team, which is but I think
he kind of knew it was coming, you know when
they hired Tom and Tom sat out last year. Uh,
and Greg will be fine, but he's terrific at what
(28:27):
he does.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I gotta go ahead, No, no, no, you fine?
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Are you trying to copy to me? Right now? All right,
we're gonna get into some fun questions too. Our wins
a quarterback stats are wins?
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (28:46):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I mean, look, they keep scoring, right, so the ultimately
winning games is you know, I think the bottom line
number that matters the most, you know, I mean I
don't obviously stats people do a lot of stuff with stats,
but at.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
The end of the day, it's do you win? Do
you get your team in the end zone? Do you win?
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Shout out to my boy Greg McElroy because that's that's
his his ultimate stat.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Yeah, okay, Uh Mount Rushmore? Who is on your personal
Mount Rushmore of influence? You get four? You've had a
tremendous career.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
I wanted to ask. I wanted to ask that other
one before go ahead.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Sorry, Well, since you say it like that.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Why I want to I want to know your best
cities in places to eat on the road because like
I go, I want to know because I need to.
I need to heat. I need those your communications. I'm
sorry about that you, that was I needed. I apologize you.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Does your partner do that to you?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
I needed asked the question that I apologize, I needed it.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
But why you Just I'll.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Get you a list. It's too hard for me to
come up with right now. Man, there's too many, so
many great ones.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
All right, good, yeah, I quit, all right, I'll walk
off the set.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
I will come back.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Just you got thirty you got Look, you got thirty
four years of just broadcasting, legendary, eighty three draft class,
great high school career, great college career, NFL career.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
You've had help.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
Along the way? Oh yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
If you could pick four people that have helped you
along the way and just get you to where you
are today in life, who would those four people be?
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Well? Uh, so I would say my dad is one
definitely been a strong influence. Joe paterno Is another one
was a very strong influence in my life. Uh for
the time I was at Penn State. The guy mentioned
Guido Delia, you know, as far as my broadcasting career
and my development as a as an analyst, he's definitely one.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
And then.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
So I'm gonna give you, you know, one of those
kind of political answers on the fourth one. I mean,
it's it's hard for me to pick one, but I
have worked with so many great partners that have shaped me.
I mean I worked with Vern Lundquist, I worked with
Brad Nessler. I worked with Sean McDonough, I worked with
Mike Patrick, I worked with Mike Tirico. I mean, those
(31:16):
five guys are as good as anybody that's ever done
it right, and I had the privilege of working with them,
and each one of them helped me to get better
and to elevate what I do. So I would put
some combination of those five guys on that last face.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
So it's a non people.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
I love that. I mean, you're right, your successor or
the people that are around you that all helped so much.
And I would thank you, Todd. I told pena excite
I was to to get up here to you, and.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, like once I gotten a huge compliment to you, sir,
once I did more.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
I just had no idea and I apologize for that,
but I love you for that because you you let
me know that I had no idea. Yeah, and that's
by the way that you portrayed yourself and carried yourself
and how interested you were in what I was trying
to do and the questions that I have for you
at the time. So thank you for that. And also
another quote, great quote that came from you from your
guy Joe Paterna, who's on your Mount Rushmore, and everybody
(32:16):
should listen to this because this is great. Success is
never final and failure is never fatal. So it's never
over until you give up on yourself. So thank you
for that. Man. A lot of people need that. We
appreciate that, and I got that from you, So thank.
Speaker 5 (32:30):
You, thank you. Thanks for having me. Guys, appreciate one.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Thanks for blessing us, really blessing this man, because I
feel like when you gave the advice, he was really talking.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
To him that I needed it. Also needed them cities
and with the food. But it's all good. We'll get
that later.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
We will get that later. Appreciate you. I'm peanut, that's wrong.
This is the NFL Player Saganax podcast. Check us out
on our NFL YouTube channel, Share, Like, subscribe, follow, leave
a comment, tell a friend, and tell her friend to
tell her friends. All right, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio app check
us out, Peanuts, NFL Second Play, NFL say.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Yeah, just say it. You got it.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I'm tongue twisted right now. NFL Player, Second Acts Podcast.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
We out.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
But before we get out, though, Thomas, don't do your
head like that.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Every time we make these mistakes. Our producer, Thomas, he's
in the back, like rolling around, and I wish we
had a cameraon to see his face because he is.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Just oh, he's living right now. But it's okay.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
We make mistakes behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
We d in it, we out.
Hosts And Creators
Charles “Peanut” Tillman
Roman Harper
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