Sanders set to rejoin what is now America's Broadcast Team
by Barry Horn
If the Cowboys' three Super Bowl victories elevated them to the NFL's "Team of the '90s," it also set them up to be the NFL "Broadcast Team of the '00s."
The NFL Network's hiring of Deion Sanders this week continues to highlight the dominance of ex-Cowboys in the network analyst game.
Sanders will work this season in the NFL Network's studio. He's no rookie. He has similar service at CBS on his resume. Sanders will be filling a role the NFL Network penciled in for Emmitt Smith. At least that's what it believed last year when the network hired Smith, who, turned out, preferred real estate to the studio.
Sanders' NFL Network studio will compete with ESPN's NFL studio, which features Michael Irvin. Should Irvin come down with laryngitis or run out of electric sherbet-colored designer suits, ESPN could call on the up-and-coming Darren Woodson.
And don't forget, the elder statesman in the Fox studio is none other than Jimmy Johnson.
It would be remiss here not to remember that when ESPN Radio was getting off the ground, Nate Newton was one of its premier NFL voices.
Meanwhile, over at Fox, Troy Aikman is the lead game analyst, backed up by Daryl Johnston.
What were they running at Valley Ranch a decade ago? Was it a football team or the Jerry Jones School of Broadcasting? Were they studying playbooks or scripts?
The Steelers won four Super Bowls in the '70s. That got Terry Bradshaw a studio gig and Lynn Swann on the sidelines. The 49ers? Joe Montana and Bill Walsh flamed out in broadcasting; Steve Young serves in the ESPN studio and Randy Cross works games for CBS.
Apparently talent and timing were everything for the Cowbroadcasters.
Cable TV wasn't around for the Steelers' run. There was no insatiable thirst for big-name analysts. The Montana 49ers were a tad early for the boom.
But when cable blossomed in the '90s, the Cowboys were center stage.
"The networks were here every week to talk to our players," said Rich Dalrymple, who as Cowboys public relations director facilitated every interview. "There wasn't a game that went by when they weren't doing a feature on one of our players."
The players watched and learned. They were never hesitant to ask questions of their questioners.
"We had sharp, articulate guys who learned to present themselves in front of the camera," Dalrymple said. "They maybe were laying the groundwork for their futures whether they knew it or not."
It didn't hurt that they sometimes got to hobnob with network executives and producers who have since been elevated to the network front offices.
Dalrymple isn't surprised that most of the Cowboys who have gone into broadcasting have thrived.
"Those guys worked hard as players," he said. "People still don't realize how much repetition and how much studying goes into winning. It has to be the same with becoming a successful broadcaster. A lot of work goes into making it look easy."
E-mail bhorn@dallasnews.com
Cowboys corner
Tonight's game against the 49ers on KTVT (Channel 11) will be the first Blue Star Media-produced Cowboys preseason game available in high definition. Tune in and see how really good of a picture you can get of Terrell Owens standing on the sideline. ...
Combine the Cowboys-Saints Monday night ratings from Channel 11 (14.0) and ESPN (5.2) and you get a 19.2 rating in Dallas-Fort Worth. That's up from the 14.2 rating for the season-opening exhibition game against the Seahawks. That's an additional 115,000 homes. The Cowboys are averaging a 16.7 this exhibition season, a tad better than the 16.4 the Mavericks and Suns averaged for their NBA Western Conference Finals series.
If the Cowboys' three Super Bowl victories elevated them to the NFL's "Team of the '90s," it also set them up to be the NFL "Broadcast Team of the '00s."
The NFL Network's hiring of Deion Sanders this week continues to highlight the dominance of ex-Cowboys in the network analyst game.
Sanders will work this season in the NFL Network's studio. He's no rookie. He has similar service at CBS on his resume. Sanders will be filling a role the NFL Network penciled in for Emmitt Smith. At least that's what it believed last year when the network hired Smith, who, turned out, preferred real estate to the studio.
Sanders' NFL Network studio will compete with ESPN's NFL studio, which features Michael Irvin. Should Irvin come down with laryngitis or run out of electric sherbet-colored designer suits, ESPN could call on the up-and-coming Darren Woodson.
And don't forget, the elder statesman in the Fox studio is none other than Jimmy Johnson.
It would be remiss here not to remember that when ESPN Radio was getting off the ground, Nate Newton was one of its premier NFL voices.
Meanwhile, over at Fox, Troy Aikman is the lead game analyst, backed up by Daryl Johnston.
What were they running at Valley Ranch a decade ago? Was it a football team or the Jerry Jones School of Broadcasting? Were they studying playbooks or scripts?
The Steelers won four Super Bowls in the '70s. That got Terry Bradshaw a studio gig and Lynn Swann on the sidelines. The 49ers? Joe Montana and Bill Walsh flamed out in broadcasting; Steve Young serves in the ESPN studio and Randy Cross works games for CBS.
Apparently talent and timing were everything for the Cowbroadcasters.
Cable TV wasn't around for the Steelers' run. There was no insatiable thirst for big-name analysts. The Montana 49ers were a tad early for the boom.
But when cable blossomed in the '90s, the Cowboys were center stage.
"The networks were here every week to talk to our players," said Rich Dalrymple, who as Cowboys public relations director facilitated every interview. "There wasn't a game that went by when they weren't doing a feature on one of our players."
The players watched and learned. They were never hesitant to ask questions of their questioners.
"We had sharp, articulate guys who learned to present themselves in front of the camera," Dalrymple said. "They maybe were laying the groundwork for their futures whether they knew it or not."
It didn't hurt that they sometimes got to hobnob with network executives and producers who have since been elevated to the network front offices.
Dalrymple isn't surprised that most of the Cowboys who have gone into broadcasting have thrived.
"Those guys worked hard as players," he said. "People still don't realize how much repetition and how much studying goes into winning. It has to be the same with becoming a successful broadcaster. A lot of work goes into making it look easy."
E-mail bhorn@dallasnews.com
Cowboys corner
Tonight's game against the 49ers on KTVT (Channel 11) will be the first Blue Star Media-produced Cowboys preseason game available in high definition. Tune in and see how really good of a picture you can get of Terrell Owens standing on the sideline. ...
Combine the Cowboys-Saints Monday night ratings from Channel 11 (14.0) and ESPN (5.2) and you get a 19.2 rating in Dallas-Fort Worth. That's up from the 14.2 rating for the season-opening exhibition game against the Seahawks. That's an additional 115,000 homes. The Cowboys are averaging a 16.7 this exhibition season, a tad better than the 16.4 the Mavericks and Suns averaged for their NBA Western Conference Finals series.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:23 PM
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