No matter how prominently I state this here, the emails inevitably will arrive tomorrow morning.
Where is your show?
I can’t find your show.
Has NBC finally gotten smart and canceled your show?
Last year, we started a new tradition. The week after the week following the Super Bowl, we shut down PFT Live. It’s a break for everyone involved in the operation, capping a five-day-per-week grind that starts when training camps open and resumes and continues until the offseason programs conclude in June.
It’s a carrot, a finish line, an ending point -- however brief it may be -- to give us all a chance to recharge and reload and recommit to a broadcast that balances analysis that illuminates, news that elucidates, and opinions that (for some) infuriate.
We love doing it. And even though I complain from time to time about the many emails I get containing complaints about the show being gone for a day or the podcasts not being posted quickly or the re-air on Peacock not showing up within 30 minutes after the live broadcast ends, it’s good to know that people care enough to let us know when their routine is disrupted.
We’re honored to be part of that routine. The idea that anyone gives a crap about what we have to say about anything means a lot to us.
And that’s not just idle talk. A viewer emailed me on Sunday night to say that he saw me with my family at the Phoenix airport and, because he’d been big-timed by another member of the football media while in Arizona, chose not to risk going 0-for-2. He even had with him a copy of Playmakers, ready for me to sign.
Folks, if you see me somewhere and you want anything -- to say hello, to talk football for a little bit, to take a photo, to sign my book (or any book, for that matter), never hesitate. And if I ever roll my eyes or huff and puff or otherwise decline the request, please kick me right in the balls. Seriously, do it. Because I’ll always take the extra 30 seconds or minute or whatever (especially if I’m waiting for a plane) to spend time with someone who spends so much time watching, listening, or reading.
And if you want to send an email complaining about anything at all, do it. I can’t respond to all of them, but I see all of them. It’s the least I can do for those of you who do so much for us.
That said, this week we won’t be doing anything from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. ET, other than sleeping or (if I’m up, and I probably will be) posting new content for you to read here. I’ll never, ever, ever, ever take this relationship for granted. You’ve got many places where you can spend your time and to devote your attention. The fact that you’re here is always appreciated.
And the fact that you’ve made it all the way to the bottom of this stupid little item, for example, means everything. Because it means this is just one of the many items like it that you have taken the two or five or 10 minutes to consume over the weeks, months, and maybe years.
So thanks for that. Thanks for all of it. And I’m sorry we’ll be off this week. We’ll be back next Monday, and after the show we’ll be heading to Indy for a couple of days at the Scouting Combine.
If you see me in Indy, say hello. I promise I won’t give you a reason to kick me in the balls.
If you decide to kick Simms in the balls instead, well, I’ll consider that a bonus.