No one would confuse The NFL Today for Inside the NBA, but that’s not supposed to come across as an insult, either.
Turner’s basketball studio show — now licensed to the Worldwide Leader — has spent nearly three decades building a reputation as the loosest, funniest hour in sports TV, largely because Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith were given room to actually talk rather than hit marks.
CBS’s NFL pregame show has built its own reputation on being a buttoned-up, analysis-forward operation anchored by James Brown, now entering his 21st season at the desk, and Bill Cowher, starting his 20th season on the show after his Hall of Fame coaching career.
Neither program is trying to become the other, but with Russell Wilson and Kyle Long joining the fold this year, Cowher told Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner at CBS Sports’s Media Day earlier this week that the goal is to nudge The NFL Today into more of a conversational format.
Cowher, asked by AA whether the new-look crew, which also includes returning analyst Nate Burleson, has gotten any chance to rehearse together — like Jim Nantz and J.J. Watt have — the former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach maintained that that wasn’t really the point.
“No, we’re gonna have dinner tonight, but you know, I think the biggest thing for us is we want to be more conversational,” Cowher said. “I think we’re gonna let this organically grow. I think that’s the best way teams happen. I think we try to fall into specific roles. It never works out. So I think we’ve all talked about the fact that we’re going to kind of get to know each other as the season goes along. That’ll be fun for the people who get to watch us grow as we go, under ourselves, amongst each other. So I try not to leave too much tape on the floor before we go in there and kind of like keep the things genuine, very generic, and more conversational and be authentic with who we are.”
“It’s my 20th year, and I’ve watched these TV pregame shows kind of just evolve, right?” Cowher continued. “And it’s like very scripted from the very beginning, very cut up to being like now more, like before we were talking to cameras, now we’re talking to people. Now we’ve got a little bit more leeway to have back and forth conversations. So you kind of watch them grow before your eyes. I think that’s the greatest thing about social media, everything else we’ve seen. The platforms have changed, the shows have changed, and you get with the people, so it’s kind of like adapt and adjust, almost like a football [team].”
Wilson is the brand new star attraction after announcing his retirement from the NFL. After weighing up a decision whether to sign with the New York Jets or begin a career in the media, the former Super Bowl champion chose to begin his second career in broadcasting. Wilson was highly sought after given his star power and profile as a top quarterback in the game for a number of years with the Seahawks. Although his career probably didn’t end in the way that anyone expected after his tumultuous in Denver and stops in Pittsburgh and New York, the CBS role allows him a fresh start and the opportunity to build something new.
Long has taken a different journey to The NFL Today as a former offensive lineman, which is not the traditional path towards any top media jobs in football unless your last name is Kelce or Madden. He made three Pro Bowl appearances in his time with the Chicago Bears before retiring after a knee injury. Over the last few years he’s been a part of CBS’s NFL coverage working for CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ at That Other Pregame Show and The NFL Today+. He then worked the main network set for the postseason last year alongside Kirk Cousins after Ryan’s immediate departure. In his time as an analyst, Long has impressed with his insights, presence, and personality. And it’s a deserving call up to the main network’s pregame show.
It will also ensure that an entirely new generation will get to see a member of the Long family on Sunday pregame shows as Kyle Long will now compete with his father Howie, who has been a fixture at Fox NFL Sunday ever since their debut in 1994.
“I think it’ll be great,” Cowher added. “I think, number one, I think Kyle, you know, has been with us the last couple of years, particularly with us that we’ve done with him, last year he came in for the championship game, so we’ve had a chance to work with him. I think Russ will be great. I know Russ going back to NC State days when he was down there and then watching his career and was fresh off the field. So I think it’s gonna be great. I think these guys are like, we’re trying to make sure we have authenticity, be authentic in everything we’re doing, and try to bring the viewers some insight to guys who are fresh off the field and different perspectives. So I think that’s what we’re looking to do. We’re honestly going on the road a lot, which just makes it even more of a different experience, kind of like a game day.”
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