Best Podcasts For the (NFL) Off-Season
Think you’ve got it tough in the off season, NFL junkie? Think again, Barney. Like Charlie Sheen, circa the Hot Shots era of hi career, or people who’ve never been exposed to Piers Morgan, sometimes you just don’t realise how good you’ve really got it.
Back when I was a kid, on the wrong side of the Atlantic when it came to the NFL (and in retrospect, admiring the name “Jesse”) it was slim pickings football wise till August rolled around.
Forget being able to pore through the net checking out acres of highlights, or devour the 417 hours of live games V (or Sky) plussed from the last 3 years, archived eps of Total Access, and of course FIVE’s groundbreaking magazine show NFL : UK ;-) the best I could hope for in the off season was devouring fading back issues of First Down and hoping that the crackly American Forces Radio would, out of nowhere, interrupt its broadcast for a 15 hour exclusive with Marino, the Marx Brothers (both sets, ideally) and Brian Bosworth reviewing the films of Steven Seagal.
These days, alongside the remarkable access to archive footage, we’ve got stories breaking on Twitter even before they’ve actually happened, and America’s 4th greatest invention, Sports Talk Radio. And it’s slick, shiny nephew Todd Podcast. Yes, there are dozens of rubbish ones where jawing heads talk mindless drivel - an underrated attribute, frankly - but there are also some diamonds in the rough, and my picks have been based around shows that balance smart broadcast journalism with both irreverence and ease of downloadability.
Some are podcast only podcasts, others edited/best of versions of a radio show, many are ESPN, a few are out and out indies. Check em out, and head to i-Tunes or similar, and get downloading people.
Mike & Mike : Two of the best in the business. No argument.
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/show?showId=mikeandmike
Fantasy Focus (ESPN) : Hosts Matthew Berry & Nate Ravitz, along with Bill Simmons (see below) and ATH’s Tony Reali and a few others, epitomise hip sports broadcasting across the pond.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=2942325
Football Today (ESPN) Because I’ve been on the show, mainly.
http://search.espn.go.com/football-today/
NFL Rants & Raves : See above! Alongside the fact that this indie podcast has built up a huge global following. Plus they let me sing a Michael Bolton track on the show.
The Audible
Smart, informative, witty. The podcast equivalent of having a beer with David Lynch. In a sports bar.
Bill Simmons/The BS Report
Simmons offsets savvy discussion with pop culture nonsense. We have to get him on our show if he’s ever in London.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=2864045
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