Todd Blackledge & Noah Eagle on the Dan Patrick Show Full Interview | 9/4/24

tomorrow night Ravens Chiefs on NBC from Kansas City you can see that also on peacock then on Friday live from Brazil Packers Eagles only on peacock the men will be calling all the action from Brazil Noah eagle and Todd blackl on the call and that'll be Friday night September 6th in sou Paulo and peacock the exclusive National home of the NFL's first ever regular season game in Brazil guys thanks for joining us Noah let me start with you it's interesting when you go to a certain campus or a city that you already know that City or that campus this is different being in Brazil so what is it you're trying to gather to then add color on H Friday night yeah Dan there's honestly only so much that I think we're trying to gather ahead of time we've got a great crew and extended crew that's here with Jack Collinsworth and Rodney Harrison and Tony dunie so they're doing a lot of the Intel for us of getting around South Paulo getting a feel for the environment for us too we're really focused on the game and focused on the matchup and making sure we do Justice by that but very exciting for the NFL to be here and there's a pretty big audience in South America especially in Brazil so we'll try to make make sure we at least highlight that yeah I was going to ask you about that Todd the growth of football around the world they're trying to make it a global sport by having fan bases in certain countries as uh Brazil made their claim to the Eagles or Packers well I think I think that some stuff that I've read it seems like the Packers might be a little bit more uh of the favorite here but I think that's kind of a national thing International thing anyway h a real strong fan base but it'll be fun uh it'll be a fun game to be a part of and you know they play some American football here they have a couple organizations that play flag football which is a huge initiative by the NFL right now is made its way down here as well and so uh it should be a very interesting crowd on Friday night what's the stadium like we're talking about a soccer stadium yeah yeah we haven't been there yet but it is a soccer stadium uh but we'll probably visit it tomorrow and and kind of get a get a feel for it I think the the seating is going to be maybe 50,000 I don't think it's going to be any bigger than that uh but I've understand the understanding is it's a beautiful place great field and so uh the players should like the surface they playing on and as far as calling games outside of the country Noah you of course were at the Olympics but uh degree of difficulty change at all because you're not in the United States yeah I think it's just you adjust to your environment it's different wherever you go I think my my bigger issue Dan is I spent so long trying to perfect French that now that's all outside of England so I walk up to everybody here saying bonjour and Bon and they look at me like I have six heads but it'll be different it's a soccer stadium so the configurations are going to be a little different of our booth you know I got to do the Notre Dame game game in Ireland last year and that was the first time I ever called a football game literally outside and it started to rain so that was where now you're looking around and saying do we have enough coverage are my charts going to be completely soaked can I read but you figure it out and you just adapt as you go Todd you got a better handle on how the Eagles are going to be this year or the Packers well it's interesting I I think both teams you know the obviously their Seasons ended in different directions last year they were completely trending in different directions but I like what both teams did in the off season I I think both have a chance to be really good this year you know Philadelphia brought in new coordinators on both sides of the ball Green Bay brought in a new defensive coordinator I think you have two of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League and I just think that again both teams added you know kind of exchange running backs so we get to see saquon Barkley for the Eagles I think he's excited about the change of scenery uh I think that Jacobs the same way with Green Bay both teams have outstanding receiving cores uh you know good offensive lines I think the Eagles have an elite offensive line even without Jason Kelce uh in the center since he retired so I think we've got two outstanding offensive football teams and and two defenses that are going to be uh breaking in new systems and new coordinators on H Friday night I I'll give this to both of you I'll start with you Noah what kind of info are you trying to get when you go to those production meetings and the coaches there there and the quarterback's there how much can you push before you're pushing too hard to get something that you can share on Friday night yeah I think my philosophy has always been you know we can all go and listen to what they're saying in press conferences we can read what they've said In Articles and whatnot I want to try to find a couple things one I want to humanize the athlet so can I get something that maybe is going to Showcase who they are outside of football outside of what they do in their Sports the second thing is I want to expand on what I've heard so if they've said something publicly I want to see if I can then take another another step forward and then the third thing is you just want to find a way to get the mindset of the overall player so whether that's going into the season as we have right now what's their mindset overall on the season whether that's the mindset of what's happened already over the course of a year or even just something very much micro but you want to find some mindset something that then you can use so that's kind of the three things that I'll try to toggle between it's a caseby casee thing because everybody reacts differently in these meetings there are some guys that I think are open books and there are other guys that maybe are a little bit more uh difficult to crack let's say yeah yeah I think for me you know one thing in talking to the coordinators from both teams I mean I'm going to try to pull some football stuff and some X and O stuff from them uh that I might be able to integrate again with the first game you know there's a lot of wait and see and and you know the thing about the NFL that is probably different than the college game is you know I think in the NFL they're very much about making adjustments ingame adjustments not just halftime adjustments but ingame and I think that is even more comes to light in a first game because there's a lot of unknown still and when I talked to the coordinators on both teams it was kind of like okay trust our training trust our rules and then we'll make adjustments based on what we see that we don't know you know Jeff Halley was a defensive coordinator for the Packers he was a head coach at BC so they're going to have to see exactly what he's doing and they'll make adjustments in the game and then the other thing for me is I've been doing this such a long time that I kind of build off of relationships you know relationships that I've made along the way and we were on a call with Jaylen Herz yesterday and it was kind of funny because I started to ask him a question he he interrupt he said hey Todd wait a minute you remember the the first opening game you did of mine don't you and I'm thinking back and I said oh yeah I do remember Oklahoma against Houston I think he threw five touchdown passes says yep that's right so kind like to play off of those relationships that I have and build off of that okay but Noah does Todd go into the quarterback mode where he speaks a different language when he's around the offensive coordinator and then the quarterback you know the YZ banana curl blah blah blah blah blah no I I haven't heard of spider 2y banana s from Todd blackl yet but I know it's in there I think when he talks to the coordinators which he's done now our last couple games separately I'm sure that's where a lot of that comes out which is better for me because if I was sitting here and he starts bringing some of that stuff out it would sound like the Portuguese again and then I'd feel much more uncomfortable once again but no I I like when Jaylen Herz gives him a little wink wink thanks for being on my game I feel comfortable again that's that's the fun stuff for me you don't do that do you Todd you don't go into the I used to play the game let me let me let me ask him my checkdown used to be this yeah no I don't I don't do that I uh I mean look I love talking ball I love you know doing that but at the same time you know I know the audience that I'm that I'm speaking to also I mean I'm not going to do that on the air either I want to say it in a way that that everybody can understand I always try to answer the question why why this play Works Why didn't it work why is the game going this way but I want to say it in a way that anybody could understand and say oh wow that that's a good point I didn't I didn't realize that did Romo change anything for you when he started predicting like did an do you think analyst or did you feel like wow I should I change do I have to do something different because Romo was you know no stradamus with some of these plays uh honestly and I'm not saying this to I'm not pulling you know tooting my own horn but I felt like I had done that before not to the same degree but I always try to look ahead yeah I think there's a balance for an analyst of looking back analyzing a replay breaking down what just happened but also being able to spin the game forward and what you anticipate and what you feel and you know part of your preparation and film study is to be able to do that so I feel like I've always kind of had a good balance of that uh he obviously early in his career particularly really took that to a new level and I would expect Brady in his first year will be very similar because he's so closely removed from the game uh it you know I would expect him to to be very very similar here coming out of the gate and also with no huddle everything's hurry up you don't get that much time to really reset something and I think it makes it harder on the play-by-play guy I've said this about Jim Nance he's got to kind of grab whatever Tony says and leaves it out there in The Ether bring it back call the play and then Tony might jump in a little bit then Jim's got to bring it back so you know the the speed of the game I think has changed how we broadcast a game I knowah you're not old enough to have you know REM your dad is but to remember what it was like when you got to huddle up you know where there was a little bit more freedom there to set up your analyst yeah that's that sounds like a different sport thaning to huddle what is this no no I I mean I know Todd said he doesn't want to toot his own horn I'll toot his horn for him Todd to me and I've we've gotten a chance to work together now for a little over a year you talk about space you talk about understanding when each of us have to get in in our roles I haven't worked with many people better than this I mean this guy is so good at one economy of words and understanding what needs to be said and how to say it properly but two the point that he just made he has the perfect blend of looking back and looking ahead and so when you listen the analysis that he has and it's because of all the film that I watch him watch I mean last year we would spend time in our compound and I would just watch him comb through through and you would say hey look at this look at this tight end I can't believe he did this over and I'm like dude I I'm not gonna mention this on the air but it's impressive that you're doing it it it makes my job a lot easier it makes my life a lot smoother and so I'm very appreciative of that but he he definitely does all of those things and so I think you know because NFL fans don't get to see them all the time they'll get a real glimpse of that again on Friday you know what's interesting though Dan is you know we did two NFL games last year and after doing 30 years of college football you know whole season with Noah last year the NFL game has a much more comfortable Pace overall to call as broadcasters than the college game there's a whole lot more urgency and speed up and hurry up in the college game unless you're doing a Michigan game they're one of the only teams that still in college football at all but the NFL the normal pace of the game is much more comfortable from a a broadcast perspective than the college game Noah how often does does your dad critique your work I critique my work zero critique me in life all the time why would you wear that shirt all black on Dan Patrick I guarantee that's gonna be the next thing no you know he'll I would say critique is the wrong word I think that you know we talk every day and we just talk about life and and what's going on and then every now and then if if one of us said something on the a that maybe I said something he liked he say oh that was really good and then there other moments where he said hey hey you said it this way think about doing it this way but it's not overbearing it's never been something where I'm like he needs to stop talking he also I think has allowed for me to really come to him and be the one to be the Catalyst of some of those conversations and I always want to continue to improveed that's been my real goal since I started doing this in college is just every time get a little better so I crave it and I think he's there to provide it have fun we'll be watching thank you again guys appreciate it D it's Todd blackl Noah Eagle they will be on the call the game will be in Brazil coming up on Friday night exclusively on peacock