Next week, the 2012 NFL regular season launches. As a very, very, very (did I say very?) small footnote to that, the PFT weed will be spreading into new territory.
We’re taking the website to NBC Sports Network, with a one-hour show every weekday, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
The show, curiously dubbed Pro Football Talk, debuts on Tuesday, September 4. Hosted by the highly competent and funny and engaging Erik Kuselias and by an Internet hack who is the exact opposite of those three traits, the show will bring the PFT temperament and attitude to the small screen, with help from NBC talent like Rodney Harrison, Hines Ward, Doug Flutie, Ross Tucker, Amani Toomer, and Peter King.
The powers-that-be tell me they’re sending out an official press release soon. They wanted me to say something for it. Here’s the best I could muster: “When we started the website, the goal was to create a place I’d want to visit as a football fan. That same objective applies to Pro Football Talk. We wanted to make a show that I would spend time watching if I wasn’t involved in it. Of course, some may say they’d be more likely to watch this show if I actually wasn’t involved in it.”
The content here won’t suffer a bit. We’ll be tweaking the format of PFT Live so that it will be a shorter show, with less prep time, which gives me more time at the keyboard. And we’ve put together an excellent stable of writers, from MDS to Darin Gantt to Josh Alper to Evan Silva.
Like the website, Pro Football Talk will be a creature of the moment, with the latest news you need to know, outside-the-box analysis, genuine debate, and some humor. Not forced or phony laughs, but genuinely funny moments (hopefully) that will make you feel like you’re hanging out with a group of friends. (Or at a minimum casual acquaintances whom you don’t hate.)
The party starts next Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. ET. On Wednesday, I’ll be at MetLife Stadium for the show, as we get ready for the regular-season opener between the Cowboys and the Giants.
We’ll be seeking your questions and your input and your feedback; this show is for you not for us and we want to be sure we cover the subjects that you want us to cover -- and that we avoid low-hanging fruit and five-letter quarterback/punt protector/special-teams aces.