Those Guys Have All the Fun - James Andrew Miller [78]
The highlight package is the lifeblood of broadcasting the NFL—next to the games. Nothing takes the place of the games, but in lieu of that, the next thing that I really believe you have to have is a highlight package that shows in a smaller context, microscopically, what the game was about. I was very fortunate in that—and I sensed it right away—and I would put this to the test of anybody who wants to argue it: there is nobody who does highlights ever, and maybe there never will be, like Chris Berman. My ability to quickly analyze and to know when to get in and out was key, because you never want to take away from what he is doing. So I began to understand my role—get in and out—and allow that highlight package to flow.
BRENT MUSBURGER, Sportscaster:
When Primetime first began, those of us at the broadcast networks didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to it. We were still wondering what ESPN meant, and where they got that name. I knew they had some games up there, but rarely did I watch the show after. Then Chris Berman caught my attention, and I was even a little jealous of the fact that they had such a long time frame for postgame highlights on Sunday. When they got their NFL deal, they got permission to use our highlights and NBC’s. We could only really use highlights at halftime, so we couldn’t tell the full story like Chris and those guys did. I remember some of my colleagues doubting ESPN could have much success with the NFL or thinking it was going to be more regionalized, but pretty quickly, they changed their minds.
JOE THEISMANN, Pro Football Analyst:
When I got hurt in ’85, I went to work for CBS, and in 1987 I was at the Charlotte airport and ran into Mike Patrick, who had just started to do the NFL for ESPN. Mike and I had actually done Maryland basketball together in ’76, and we were sitting there—I remember this like it was yesterday—and I said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could work together again?” and we both sort of chuckled and said, “Yeah, that’d be terrific.” Then the experiment at ESPN with multiple different analysts didn’t seem to go very well, and so I believe there was a decision to make between O. J. Simpson and myself regarding joining ESPN and doing the telecasts. From what I understand, it was Steve Bornstein who decided that he would go with me, and it was much appreciated, trust me. I certainly appreciated the opportunity to be able to stay around the game of football.
JIM GRAY, Reporter:
This will make me sound like I’m talking about myself, but I did an interview that was long credited by many people for putting ESPN on the map in terms of a news-gathering organization. I broke the Eric Dickerson trade from the Los Angeles Rams when he was holding out and owner Georgia Frontiere wouldn’t pay him. She wanted to give him new furniture for his house, and he wanted $1 million a year, and this was after he had broken the single-season rushing record with 2,105 yards. I was the only reporter he would talk to through that period in 1987, and he had decided not to go down to the Rams facility. So he said, “If you want to see me and talk, you can come to this Halloween party I’m going to.” Well, about two hours before the party, he called and said, “You better come over to the house. I’m not going to the party.” I said, “Why?” He said, “Just get over to the house as soon as possible.”
I got the directions and went over to his house. It was there that he told me he that coach Ron Meyer had called him and that he was being traded to the Indianapolis Colts. There was going to be a press conference in New York to announce it, because they were playing the Jets that weekend. So as we were talking, Eric was getting into his car to go to the airport. I said, “Eric, can you let me do an interview