Ken Matias Sports Podcast Ep.17 NBC Sports Broadcaster Noah Eagle

welcome folks to the another episode I should say of the Ken Maas Sports podcast uh episode 17 actually um have another wonderful guest uh Noah igel I hope I said that right H it's Eagle like the bird sorry my bad my bad my my bad I apologize that's all right uh obviously he just recently did the Paris Olympics so he's been you know a sports broadcaster went to Syracuse yada y y but feel free to tell the people who you are well Ken I appreciate you having me on first and foremost long time coming here um yeah you know it's broadcasting is is in the DNA for sure I grew up the son of a broadcaster my dad ion long time uh doing this since before I was just an idea in his head and here I am now doing it you know all these years later but grew up in in Jersey so Northeast all the way through and went to Syracuse as mentioned you know loved my time my four years there were awesome and gradu ated there was out in La doing the LA Clippers on the radio for a couple years four to be exact and uh now with NBC doing college football doing college basketball did some tennis some Olympics and anything else they asked me to do that's where I'll be so uh you can find me there along with the Brooklyn Nets and a whole bunch of other places in the Sports World no that's awesome to hear and first and foremost let's start with the LA Clippers gig how did that come about was that just through like a connection through school I think you might have mentioned to me who it was but yeah so you know when I was at at Syracuse my senior year it was early in my senior year and I I wasn't really sure what to do in terms of looking for a job and I think a lot of us go through that period of like okay what's what's that next step how do we become real adults now instead of just staying in this College bubble for the rest of our lives even though that's probably what we want to do but I I didn't really have anything I was I was thinking of trying to find or any of that I asked my dad you know do you think like should I start going after stuff should I start poking around he said H wait till at least March uh enjoy your senior year and focus on doing really well focus on getting better on the air focus on crushing each assignment that you have in front of you so that's what I did and around January or February of my senior year I had a professor named Olivia stomski who is still there she is the the head of the sports Media Center at Syracuse University in now new house which is the media school there and she was still active in the industry at the time and has a lot of connections still and basically what happened was Ralph Lawler who had been doing the clippers for 40 years that was his 40th season that year was going to retire at the end of the year and so Steve balber the owner of the team basically tasked the television crew along with the the business side of the Clippers organization with finding the widest possible range of candidates to replace him and so that included people who had been doing it for 30 years and that included people who had been doing it like myself for zero years professionally and so she reached out to me and said hey can you build a basketball reel and send it to me so I can send it out to somebody who's interested I said well who's interested she said I can't tell you that go well that seems unfair because I'm putting it together she goes trust me it's better if you don't know I go okay no problem so I I put something together I sent her that a week later sent her a resume and she kind of sent it off and then I didn't hear anything and so about two months go by somewhere around there month and a half goes by I hear nothing and I'm driving in early April right after the final four I'm driving to a radio show I'd been doing every Monday night downtown in Syracuse and I get a call from an LA number I didn't have and I answered it and it was this this guy named Nick Davis who works at the the now Bal but at the time Fox Sports West yep and he called and he said hey I'm sure you're aware but Ralph Lawler's retiring and we'd love to fly you out and interview you and audition you next week and I'm like what are you serious this is a real thing this is happening and yeah it was it was very much real and I'm thankful I picked up the phone and the next week I flew out and I interviewed with the Clippers I interviewed with their TV side of things I auditioned with Corey mgti and I took a red eye back to Syracuse it went well and I heard that Steve bomber the owner then wanted to meet me the following week so I flew to Seattle did a 90minut one-on-one chat with him and when I left that interview I turned to him before I I walked out the door and I said Mr bomber I want to thank you for the opportunity but more than anything I want to let you know that if I get this job then your organization the LA Clippers will become my whole life I will make it my life he said okay good to know and so I walk out I take another Redeye back I had a couple more weeks until I graduated so finished up school graduated went home and literally the day after I think I got home from Syracuse after my senior year I got a call from the president of the team and she said we're moving the radio guy up to TV but we'd like for you to then take the radio job uh take the weekend to decide I was like take the weekend I I could tell you right now I don't I could give you a second but I played it nice and cool I was like I appreciate it sounds good I'll let you know and so I called back on a Sunday and said I'm good to go and the rest was kind of history from there I did my four years and and it was really wonderful that's awesome man I mean originally they were looking for what somebody on the radio side or it was TV at sorry yeah so they're TV side and basically they just they one of the candidates aside from myself was the radio guy Brian Seaman who had been there for 12 years on the radio radio and so it was the right decision Brian was a fabric of the organization knew the team inside and out does an excellent job and so he got bumped up to TV it left the radio job open and then that's when they decided you know what we really liked this guy in the interview we liked his audition let's see if he can do it was that the first time you went out to like LA and stuff like that when they flew you out or when you flew out from uh New York or New Jersey so I mean I I had been out there you know on like a vacation but I hadn't really been out for extended periods um or C definitely not for any kind of work any anything related to that so it was the first time to in that capacity for sure and then once I moved out there it was really the first time I was getting extended time in Los Angeles and so living there four years I could tell you pretty much everything about the city now but when I first got out there I didn't really know a soul and I was living all alone and I was just like we're going to have to figure this out and that's what we did that's that's an awesome awesome story Story I mean that that's amazing just not many probably kids or young gentlemen like you can say right out of school I'm going to go work for the Clippers the Celtics like that's that's crazy I mean that's that's a phenomenal Story I mean you wouldn't regret one thing on it I mean looking back on it now right to where you are today no I it was the best thing to happen to me in so many ways and and not just the fact that I got to go out there and do NBA basketball which I was a huge NBA fan that was always my passion was the NBA and basketball and football was right behind it but the fact that it got to be the NBA was was really big but on top of all of that it allowed me to go and really find myself even more as a broadcaster because I was doing every game by myself I didn't have an analyst with so it forced me to learn how to basically play a bunch of diff different roles how to wear a number of different hats over the course of a broadcast and realistically the best thing it did was it gave me so much experience so many different scenarios and situations within games that no matter what pops up now I feel like I've been through it already I mean that's impressive so you were doing color and play byplay on the radio by yourself all four years yeah yeah most people most people can think when someone talks to themselves they're a crazy person but for me it it came with a paycheck so it was a pretty good gig no that's awesome I mean what was you like your highs and lows reflecting on it I mean obviously everything every job no matter what you do is got its ups and downs so if you want to you know nitpick a few highlights maybe couple of low points if you want to share well I mean highlights there were there were every day yeah there were there were an abundance of highlights I mean the fact that we get to travel with the team right so for me getting on the plane with players coaches staff members and staying in the same hotels as them is really cool and I think that's probably the best perk of the job is you get to feel like you're a player despite having very limited athletic ability and being being vertically challenged in my case you know so so when you you get that aspect of fulfilling the lifelong dream of being in the NBA without actually being in the NBA so that part's amazing on top of that you get to be there for all these amazing moments and I was fortunate enough that my second year with the team they made it to the Conference Finals which was the first time in their franchisees history that they got to the Conference Finals so I got to be there for that whole run and that was magical in many respects the cons it's great in some respects to have no analyst but you want somebody you get a little bit you get a little bit lonely sometimes on the air especially if it's a blowout or even if it's an exciting game you just feel like you want somebody who can bounce things off of or share the experience with so I definitely missed that aspect of it at times but more way way more Pros than there were cons doing that job for four years and I met so many great people and establish so many amazing relationships that will hopefully stay with me for a long time through the rest of my career no that's amazing I mean you mentioned Corey MTI I think I probably briefly remember him playing I mean how was meeting him because I know he was a pretty average or decent you know ball player in the league for a while and I think I remember him with the Clippers so you want to share how you know meeting him for the first time and stuff like that when you're going through the interview process yeah you know Ken it it was awesome because he's an awesome person he's just a super nice dude with an infectious smile and wants to have fun and wants to joke around and so for me I did grow up watching Cory in the NBA and I remember him all the way back to his short time at Duke and he's a Chicago guy so kind of the the city feel and he was just easy to get along with and he made me so comfortable in that audition then yeah he kept working with the Clippers when I was there but I mean I've I've had a chance to work with so many amazing people he is just one of the long long list and the list that keeps growing and I'm very fortunate that I've been put in position so far in my career that I've had pretty much all hits and no misses and so I take that with a lot of gratitude and hope that the trend continues for a long time no that's that's good stuff to hear I mean this conversation so far I've had a blast listening to this because I'm kind of envisioning what's been going on like the four years you were there and I was kind of living it through your your eyes and I'm like wow like that that that's amazing it really is but um yeah so shifting gears a little bit um if you want to talk about your dad I mean that's that's one of the guys that I love hearing call football basketball I mean he I don't know what other sports he does but he's got that unique voice just growing up listening to him you know I've probably talked about it with my dad too like you know like I I've talked to like Noah like hey I talked to Ian Eagle son like that's amazing like you know I I DM him and stuff like that on Twitter but talk about like your strong relationship and when you first started basically fallen in love with like sports broadcasting or thanks to your dad it was basically right off the bat when you were little yeah so I'm I'm in my kind of office secondary room in my apartment right now and hanging above me to the right is the first jersey I ever owned which was given to me when I was about six months old maybe and it's a Kean Johnson Jets Jersey wow framed and signed by him so this goes back a long long time this was I would say that I was I was in on the sports stuff real early and I think part of that was because of him and I got to see him at the events and more than anything I got to see him interacting with people at these events his analysts his producers his directors but even security guards at MetLife Stadium or at if you want to go all the way back giant Stadium if you want to go all the way back on the NBA side Continental Airlines Arena and wherever we might have been those types you know a2s and Stage managers and fans they came up to him and so I got to see the type of joy that he could provide and that that he kind of radiated through the rest of the people around him how he could light a room up and I I love that aspect of it now the sport side of it you know I grew up in the New York area Northern New Jersey about 25 30 minutes away from New York City my dad's from Queens originally so oh wow that New York fom of what it means to be a sports fan and I'm not even just talking about the team side of it I'm talking about the the overall level of just the the correct word of fanatic it it feels like you have that around New York and so to grow up around that to grow up around this level of just desire and will to win and all of the other stuff I mean Boston's very similar obviously yeah for sure that's easy to then fall in love with I think it's it's intoxicating in a lot of ways and so I think I got engulfed in that very quickly as well but I I didn't decide that I wanted to do exactly what my dad did until I was probably about 13 you know he probably knew it around seven years old according to him when he was real young he said this is what I want to do and the great thing was his parents said then that's what you're going to do and so I think he learned from them how empowering that can be that a young kid hears from the people that he or she respects the most in the world you can do this or you will do this that's massive and so for me and my sister it was the same way both my parents were going to be incredibly supportive whatever we wanted to do and by the time I was 13 after I had given a number of speeches and classes that had went well I'd had teachers come up to me and say I think you're going to do something in public speaking one day and at the time I was like I'm going to play in the NBA what are you talking about I'm gonna be allamerican point guard in college and I'm gonna be a first round pick yeah that didn't happen so I think once you once you realize that that's not happening what's the next best thing how can I still stay close to this how can I still get this adrenaline rush how can I still feel like I'm part of a locker room and that's what broadcasting games really allows you to do and I've seen that especially from the recent recently retired athletes that I've worked with there's this level of camaraderie that comes with this job that you really just can't simulate anywhere else other than actually playing the game so easy to fall in love with it I think from 13 years old on I really lasered in and went to work once I got to college wow that's amazing I mean I've seen a lot of athletes just transition from their playing days maybe not even take a year or two of and they go right to radio or like TV it's like damn I honestly wish I was them I mean I I never was talented enough to to stick playing baseball and basketball growing up but I mean I love all the four major sports I got a strong passion like you do and you know you're terrific at it I mean the little I was seeing the Paris Olympics with Team USA were you doing the men's uh the women's side too I know you did the men's but I did men's women's we did a couple non- Us games as well so we had games every day Ken it was uh it was a gauntlet ride but it was a special one yeah it was definitely worth it obviously congratulation to both uh the men's and women's USA basketball team winning gold that was amazing but no I mean hearing stories like that from like you know like 13 like I wanted to do it I mean I've been wanting to do this since I was probably in eighth grade even before then like growing up it's just it's just been so tough like I turned 30 this past summer and I'm like it it is what it is I may never get it but I got a taste of doing high school ball late what should I say winter maybe last year I should say like December January so that was kind of cool like co-hosting playing you know doing play by play stuff like that that was kind of tough some days like I kind of can relate obviously the NBA is different than high school but I was doing some you know games and stuff it was by myself and that's kind of tough obviously but yeah man doing it for a little like small local station where I live in town and stuff like that but um no th this was definitely great I mean I I I love speaking with you and we can we still got time to continue so if you want to talk I know I'm kind of all over the place but if you want to talk about like your NBC journey and how that transpired and did you do some stuff for Fox too I swear you did some NFL games Fox correct so you know basically once I got the Clipper job in La it was it was an interesting time because like I started in 2019 I started our first game I guess would have been October of 2019 and so if that's what you want to consider my start date that's cool so October 2019 basically was when I first began with the Clippers and if you think about it we were rolling rolling rolling rolling rolling then March 2020 hits and Co now shuts everything down so I I went it was my first year as a professional broadcaster it was my first year in this brand new role and I was really finding momentum and then it it just stops and so for three months there was no Sports there were no events there was nothing to cover so around June 2020 things started back up again and Tennis which I've done tennis as well for the last five plus years was starting back up so it allowed me to get back into the work mode and then the bubble and everything else but because of covid and because the travel schedule was a little different it allowed me to kind of add more things to my resume because I was a little bit more around than I would have been if I was still traveling all the time and so first I did a couple years back I did a couple games on CBS college football they they asked me to do some Mountain West and then some SEC games which was amazing and then the following year after the work that I did that year fox called and said hey we want you to do an entire season of college football with us and I was like great that sounds good to me so I did college football that whole year I ended up doing to your point uh one NFL game on Fox during that season I did the Falcons and the ners and then later that year Fox produced an NFL Network game and I did the Vikings and Colts which ended up being the largest comeback in NFL history oh that was a couple of seasons ago I think I remember that yeah yeah so that was a crazy crazy crazy game and so after that year as I was going through with Fox NBC ended up reaching out wanting to meet so we ended up meeting and everything went very well and they said you know we want to bring you in to do this big 10 package that we're going to get and I said that sounds awesome to me and so we end up doing big 10 Saturday night this past year and with that we did a regular season NFL game on NBC between the Steelers and the Bengals and then we ended up doing a wild card game between the Texans and the Browns and I've gotten real lucky because because I've been involved with the Nickelodeon broadcast oh the last four plus years here so we ended up doing the Super Bowl on Nickelodeon as well so it was a fun year of football last year and I'm looking forward because we've got an incredible slate for the Big 10 this year as well are you going to do a lot of Notre Dame games too because I know NBC has I don't know if they still got a partnership with Notre Dame but they do so there's still a Notre Dame crew but we'll end up doing at least one maybe two of the Notre Dame games this year as well that are going to be put in the prime time essentially if the games are prime time on NBC our crew does them and if they're a a daytime slot for Notre Dame the utre Dame crew does them so we'll have some yeah we we'll have some Irish in there as well that was that was the cool assignment I got my first ever game on NBC last year was a last second switch uh because the broadcaster who was supposed to do the game wasn't feeling great and couldn't make it and so they called me last minute and I had to fly literally less than 24 hours later to Dublin Ireland and I I go to Ireland and it was Notre Damon Navy and we did the game and it was a it was one of the cooler experiences of my career I loved Dublin I loved the people there so it was it was awesome but definitely a Mad Dash for that one yeah for sure I mean there's so much that goes into a broadcast you guys got to go through meetings uh do at the college level do you guys meet with the players and the coaches just like the NFL because I hear about it in the NFL all the time like yeah I met with Coach bich on Wednesday Wednesday Thursday you know in our production meeting so it must be the similar same thing on the college side too yeah exactly the same and so it depends on it goes crew to crew you know some Crews really like doing coach and coordinators some Crews prefer players our crew is is we set it up a certain way where we really get to meet with coaches and players which is great and it adds to me a lot to the broadcast I think that it's important because it gives us perspective most mostly from their sides but also it gives us maybe stuff that the fans wouldn't be able to find on their own and so it allows for us to report and do Justice by both teams by properly doing it that way it also gives us a little bit of an Insight on what we can expect to see during the game so it really helps us preparation wise if a Coach tells us something on a Wednesday or even on a Friday the day before a game we can now look for it ahead of time or at least be alert to what's going to happen ahead of time instead of being completely fooled man that's that that's I don't even know what to say that's so cool I mean meeting with production you know production Crews and coaches and coordinators and players it's it's that that must be like inspiring honestly I mean I don't even know what to say I'm running out of words to say I mean is there one moment that you were looking forward to that you knew maybe a week or two that all right I'm going to beet with so and so and you were excited to actually meet with them I mean any any level any sport feel free to share you know one of your famous production meetings if you'd like yeah you know Ken I'm always excited to meet with everybody yeah which is a very political answer but it's true because I I just you never know what's going to come from it I always love meeting with Jim Harbaugh because he goes on so many tangents and he says so many different things that you just never know what's going to come I love meeting with Ryan day because he really it's very nitty-gritty and and you got to pay attention and he wants to make sure that you are on your p's and q's you have to be at your best and I know was similar to Coach bich in a lot of ways who I've never met with but my dad has many many times and he's told me that bill you can earn Bill's trust so long as you're doing your homework the proper amount and so long as you're handling your business the right way uh but I love I love meeting with all the players and all the coaches I would say one of the highlights was Mike Tomlin and he's known as one of the best in these settings he's just really good he comes in he gives you everything you could possibly ask for before you even can ask it wow and he goes any question and you're like I mean you answered every okay yeah let me find some other questions I can ask he's awesome I'm a huge fan of ha I was a huge fan of Kevin stefansky and the whole Cleveland Browns you know one of the ones that I really enjoyed was uh we met with David njoku before the playoff game the tight end the Browns and David and I actually played high school basketball against each other so it was like a whole trash within our whole meeting and the rest of our crew was was kind of laughing because you know he sat down and I was just like like man those battles CER Grove up in West Essex and he goes why don't you tell everybody who won those games I go you did you won those games so it was a lot of that but uh yeah we have fun with them to me if you can make the people comfortable you're going to get the best answers out of them and so that's what we try to do oh man that's that's awesome I mean obviously you guys probably going back to the Browns Texans playoff game did you have a chance to meet with Deo ryes and CJ stoud and them guys too they were awesome I mean I I had heard how great I I met with Dem Ryans the year before when he was the defensive coordinator in San Francisco so I had known him a little bit and was super super impressed of just how organized how buttoned up everything that he does is and his overall Vibe and how he can then have that permeate through the team and you could see that obviously on the field but CJ strout I didn't really know what to expect I had heard great things but you over you obviously are going to get your own opinions on everything and he could not have been any better in the meeting he could not exceeded the expectations anymore he is so smart he is such a good team guy he is such a Houston over CJ oriented type of person and you could see how he raises the level of the rest of his team so I'm pumped to see what he looks like year two because he was so good obviously as a rookie but you can't even imagine what type of untapped potential there still might be and there certainly is and he knows that and so I think he's motivated to keep getting better to try to be the best in the league at one point and try to be be MVP try to win many Super Bowls you could feel that coming from him so uh yeah he was great Deo was awesome we met with Nico Collins who had a fantastic year we met with Will Anderson who was another just Sensational rookie and everybody in that building was really great and part of that was the season that they had was Monumental for the future of the organization but more than anything I think they were just excited to to host a playoff game because it was still up in the air as to whether or not that was going to Happ happened so they were great and hopefully I get another Texans game at some point soon yeah I mean staying on the Texans it's just they were bound to do something I mean back to the the David Carr years you know they've had a rough patch since entering the league in 2002 they've hosted subba BS there that used to be called Reliance Stadium which I know the Patriots won against I think Carolina back in 03 I mean was I was a young that one up huh I I do yeah I respect it no but yeah I mean look they they had some pockets of years where they were very good Matt sha was was really solid for them at quarterback and Arian Foster was running the ball Andre now you got Hall of Famer Andre Johnson who was one of the best in the league for over a decade many many years you had the the window with deshun Watson uh where he was so good for them and they were so good as a team with DeAndre Hopkins than the future Hall of Famer so they they've had Pockets but to your point it feels like they just haven't broken through and no who better than a guy who was On th those teams that were fighting and trying to break through to be the head coach than demo Ryan and and he understands what it means to be a Houston Texans so I love that for them I'm excited to see what they can do in continuing to build from the ground floor up stand on the Texans for one more thing have you had a chance to sit down with Stefon Diggs in any of his stops between buffalo Houston or even Minnesota I mean in your young career for sure no I I never have uh I know my dad has and and he loves his personality just he's got this infectious himself no no question and look he is a great addition because Nico Collins proved that he can be a number one receiver and tank Dell proved he could probably be a number two receiver and obviously got hurt towards the end of the year but you just think about the talent they have lined on that roster now really at every skill position they are set and certainly a quarterback and so as long as the offensive line does it its part that offense should be lethal they have so many options and Stefan is a perfect addition to what they want to do so I'm excited to see what he looks like there uh I'm not sure how he's going to be utilized compared to those other guys because I think they still deserve to get a lot of the attention that they did but if nothing else it should just take attention away from either Nico Collins or Nico Collins or tank Dell or dton Schulz or any of these guys will take attention away from Stefan Diggs which is obviously a dangerous proposition for defenses first personally I'm scared of that offense I believe we play him at some point this week being a diard patriot uh some point this week Jesus I meant to say some point this season I know The Season's right around the corner but uh I think they might come to Foxboro and I'm kind of honestly scared to play them because their uh their offense is pretty electric so we'll see how it is by the time they meet middle of the Season or early to midseason but um I mean what stay on the NFL topic what's your expectations I mean I'm assuming you're a DieHard Jets fan I mean what's what's your expectations without the whole league maybe MVP or even Jets expectations so I would tell you that once I got to being a professional your fandom goes out the window it does it does I understand that so I wouldn't I wouldn't say I'm a I'm a fan anywhere necessarily at this point I I definitely just follow the league I make sure that I keep tabs around and I certainly follow the New York scene because I live here yeah but expectations the first thing I'll say is that I think we've all learned and I've been saying this for years especially since Brady has departed that hurts my feelings betting against Patrick Mahomes is a bad idea and so I've realized that that has reigned truer and truer with each passing season so I expect that the the Chiefs are always going to be there they're always going to be a threat I'm curious to look at the Bengals can they be healthy because before Joe burrow went down they were starting to click again and we know how dangerous they can it feels like Buffalo's window is still open if everything goes right a lot of their nucleus isn't there from what been in the past but you still have one of the best quarterbacks and weapons in the league in Josh Allen I think Dalton Co Dalton concade has a chance to be a legitimate star and so you've got pieces there that can be dangerous and that that's really just on the AFC side look the Jets have all the talent they they really do I mean Bree Hall is a stud Garrett son is a stud you bring in Mike Williams who knows what happens if Devonte Adams finds his way then to New York as well but you've got you've got pieces now and I mean the kid they they drafted uh Corley the wide receiver is supposed to be pretty solid as well so they they have a lot of what they need it's just going to be and obviously beefed up the offensive line which was going to be the biggest concern for them it's going to be whether or not Aaron Rodgers at 40 years old can stay healthy and can still play at an MVP caliber level and if he can their defense is as good as just about anybody in the NFL and so that will dictate a lot because they can probably win solely on their defense six seven eight times this year alone so if Aaron can raise their profile offensively even just a little bit even just slightly above average they're a dangerous team on the NFC side the Niners are always going to be great I think Kyle Shanahan is is just a brilliant brilliant mind and so I expect them to be there I've got the Green Bay Packers in the Philadelphia Eagles week one and I think both teams are legitimately Super Bowl type because I think look Philadelphia they've been that way obviously for years now I think last year was a weird falter at the end of the season but on paper they have all the pieces and you add saquan Barkley their defense it should be better it should be very good their offense they have everything and their offensive line is still going to be one of the best in the NFL so there's no reason they can't lead the league in rushing with one of the more Dynamic running backs and obviously the not the most dynamic quarterback I would say Lamar Jackson probably has that but one of a top three most dynamic quarterback in the NFL and Jaylen herdz and then in Green Bay I love Jordan love I'm a huge fan of what he does and I think that receiving Core theyve built it perfectly they've really really worked on building a strong defense which we saw at the end of the season last year and we saw just the overall growth of the youth that they have really now taken the time to pour into and obviously the way they finished last season to me is more of a sign of things to come for Jordan love and and that entire team and he got rewarded with the contract so those are teams that I expect to be there I think the Lions have a chance to kind of keep the momentum from last year but I think the Rams arguably will take another step forward you know so long as Matthew Stafford is healthy for them they're similar in the sense that they've got all the right pieces available to them they've got everything that you could want and they add Blake corm at running back in the draft I love that because kyen Williams last year was one of the breakout stars in the NFL but Blake km's a perfect one-two punch with him you got two physical Runners that are go downhill at you with a good offensive line one of the better offensive lines that we saw in the latter half of the season last year so there are a lot of teams that I think are threatening I didn't even mention Baltimore that was the number one seed in the AFC last year so you just look around the league I think that's what makes the NFL so much fun every year is the parody that comes with it but especially now just feels like it's it's up for grabs and despite Patrick Mahomes dominating the league and still it hasn't been blowout blowout blowout blowout blowout Super Bowl for Patrick Mahomes it's been grinded out so I think that shows us how close everything is I mean it did string in my hearts last year because it was the first team since the 04 Patriots I think 0304 Patriots to win back to back so that's just me being a homer obviously I'd have to set that aside if I ever become in your position but um yeah I mean no it's definitely going to be an interesting NFL year I look forward to it every single year being a Patriots fan but I like overseeing the whole league just like yourself um you know I low-key root for the Falcons and Cardinals every year because I'm a big Matty Ice fan Michael Vic fan back in the day what they used to do in in Atlanta was pretty good and uh obviously I root for Kyler Murray because I'm a big Kyler Murray fan but um it's definitely going to be an interesting year um safe travels to Brazil by the way if you're doing um the Friday game there right is that going to be on Amazon or is that on NBC too it is on peacock is yes everybody who got peacock for the Olympics congratulations you can also watch that game oh that's awesome I mean yeah as long as their trial is still expanded till the beginning of September but good luck yeah no no I I appreciate you uh you joining my podcast obviously we got like about four minutes I I did want to point out that is that that's that Emmy that you won that I seen on Twitter like maybe a few months ago yeah that's it right there oh congratulations and and expl to the folks who was that for because I probably forgot what exactly it was for appreciate it yeah so I I won I was real lucky this year and fortunate to to even just be nominated with that group but I I got selected as the Emmy Award winner for emerging on air Talent so basically the upand cominging group uh Greg Olson had won it the year before so I'll take that as a as a big win following his footsteps because he's had uh quite the year overall and continues to to Really dominate the scene so it was a it was a really amazing honor amazing night and it was cool my parents were there and so I got to share it with them I got to share with a lot of my co-workers and yeah it's gonna it's going to sit over here for a little while you know I got make sure that it stays clean and doesn't collect any dust but I like having it over here where was that event held if you don't mind me asking yeah it was in New York yeah it was in New York City oh wow very impressive I mean New York's beautiful I mean a lot of stuff happens I mean that's your hometown being from New York New Jersey and stuff like that so New York City is definitely a site to to see if nobody's seen it at least see it once in your life so I think I've been there a couple of times yeah got to do it just walk around a little bit that's true appreciate it Noah thank you so much you got it Ken