''Inside the NFL'' is an American weekly television
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
show that focuses on the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). It originally aired on
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
from 1977 through 2008. Following
Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
, HBO announced that it would be dropping the program, and it was subsequently picked up by the
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
network. In February 2021, it was announced that the show would move to
Paramount+.
Each NFL season, the program airs from Week 1 of the regular season until the week after the
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
. The show principally features highlights of the past week's games that were captured by
NFL Films, in addition to commentary and analysis by the hosts, and occasional interviews with current and former NFL players and personnel.
History
''Inside the NFL'' first aired in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
and is cable television's longest-running series. The first episode followed
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
quarterback Rhett Swanson from his final college pass at
USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
to draft day. This concept was later copied by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. The show is significant for being the first major sports-related program to air on the then relatively new HBO network. Perhaps more significant is the fact that it was the first NFL-related program to air on cable. The original hosts were
Al Meltzer
Al Meltzer (June 26, 1928June 12, 2018), nicknamed "Big Al", was an American sportscaster.
Born in Syracuse, New York, Meltzer worked for Channel 10 and Channel 3 in Philadelphia, and Comcast SportsNet (as sports director). He also worked for ...
, at the time play-by-play man for the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
, and
Chuck Bednarik
Charles Philip Bednarik (May 1, 1925 – March 21, 2015), nicknamed "Concrete Charlie", was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). He has been ranked one of the hardest hitting tacklers in NFL history an ...
,
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
two-way player for the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
.
1978–2001
In
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
, Meltzer and Bednarik left the show and were replaced by
Merle Harmon and Hall of Fame
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Len Dawson respectively. In
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
, Merle Harmon left for
NBC as Len Dawson was joined by fellow Hall of Famer and former
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
Nick Buoniconti
Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti (December 15, 1940 – July 30, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a middle linebacker in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played for the Boston Patriot ...
. In
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
, newly retired
Cris Collinsworth joined as an on-air reporter. In
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, Collinsworth joined Dawson and Buoniconti as the third host. Several former players and coaches served as co-host throughout this period including
Jimmy Johnson and
Jerry Glanville.
From 1999 to 2001, the hosts of ''Inside the NFL'' appeared on HBO's corporate cousin,
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
, hosting faux pregame shows for the network's ''Big Game'' specials (featuring classic theatrical cartoons edited together as a parody of the Super Bowl).
End of the Dawson–Buoniconti era
After the
2001 NFL season
The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL), and the first season of the 21st century. The league permanently moved the first week of the regular season to the weekend following Labor Day. In the wake o ...
, Len Dawson and Nick Buoniconti retired from the show. From
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
–
2007 seasons, the show was hosted by
Bob Costas with former players
Dan Marino
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...
,
Cris Collinsworth, and
Cris Carter serving as co-hosts. Bob Costas acknowledged this change in the season's first episode and paid tribute to the former hosts, saying they paved the way for the show to succeed. In addition to the change in hosts, ''Inside the NFL'' also featured segments featuring comics such as
George Lopez,
Jim Florentine,
Lewis Black
Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends.
He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis ...
and
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...
.
During the last three weeks of the
2005 NFL season
The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.
Regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006. The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the United ...
, ''
Real Sports
''Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel'' is a monthly sports news magazine on HBO. Since its debut on April 2, 1995, the program has been presented by television journalist and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel.
Overview
Format
Each episode consists of fou ...
'' host
Bryant Gumbel filled in for Bob Costas. Costas was unavailable because he was in
Turin, Italy
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
preparing to cover the
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...
for
NBC.
In a special 30th anniversary episode that aired in December 2006, Len Dawson and Nick Buoniconti were invited back to co-host the show.
Cancellation, rebirth, and move to Showtime and Paramount+
On February 6, 2008, HBO suddenly announced that the show would end its run after 30 seasons. HBO Sports cited increased competition in NFL-related programming since the show's inception as a reason for its cancellation. Skeptics, however, believe that the real reason for HBO's decision to drop the show was due to the increasing cost for usage of the
NFL Films produced highlights. In the final episode, a taped montage with highlights from the series' 30 seasons was aired. In addition, former hosts Dawson and Buoniconti did the final signoff as the credits rolled. Bob Costas soon regarded the cancellation by HBO as being a "boneheaded" move.
On June 3, 2008,
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
and NFL Films announced that ''Inside the NFL'' had found a new home on
CBS Corporation
The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...
-owned
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
and would air on Wednesdays starting September 10 (9 p.m. ET/PT) on the cable channel. ''Inside the NFL'' aired every Wednesday throughout the
2008 NFL season
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."
Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on February 1, 2009, w ...
through Wednesday, February 11, 2009. It is produced by CBS Sports and NFL Films. On July 6, it was announced that
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
would host ''Inside the NFL'', the role Bob Costas had on HBO. Brown would also be joined by lead CBS NFL analyst
Phil Simms, retired former Defensive Player of the Year
Warren Sapp
Warren Carlos Sapp (born December 19, 1972) is an American former football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sapp played college football at Miami, where h ...
and the returning
Cris Collinsworth.
Jenn Brown
Jennifer Lynne Brown (born March 23, 1981) is an American sports broadcaster and television host. A former Division I Collegiate Athlete for the University of Florida, she spent eight years as a reporter and host for ESPN and ''American Ninja W ...
joined the team as the first female special correspondent on the show. Her main responsibility would be to do various features throughout the season. While Sapp was competing on ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'', former
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
head coach and current ''
NFL Today
''The NFL Today'' is an American football television program on CBS that serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the ''NFL on CBS'' brand. The program features commentary on the latest new ...
'' analyst
Bill Cowher along with former
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
quarterback
Joe Theismann
Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian ...
filled in.
As of the 2019 NFL season, the show is hosted by
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
,
Phil Simms,
Brandon Marshall
Brandon Tyrone Marshall (born March 23, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was drafted by ...
, and
Ray Lewis
Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional American football, football player who played as a Linebacker#Middle linebacker, middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in th ...
.
On February 24, 2021, it was announced that ''Inside the NFL'' would move from Showtime to
Paramount+, with former Patriots wide receiver
Julian Edelman also becoming a part of the series. The season premiered on September 7, 2021.
Format
Much like other shows on pay-cable networks and streaming providers, ''Inside the NFL'' has the freedom to stray from the traditional network format for its program. While the basic elements were the same as any other sports recap show by featuring highlights of the week's games and discussion of events around the league, the fact that there were no commercials allows the panel to discuss subjects at length without the normal network time restrictions.
Highlights
The highlight segments consist of
NFL Films footage of the past week's games with narration by
Harry Kalas (following Kalas' death in 2009,
Scott Graham
Scott Graham (born June 10, 1965) is an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of the Philadelphia Phillies, his work with NFL Films, and his studio hosting of '' The NFL on Westwood One''. He has lived and worked near Philadelphia f ...
took over as the narrator). This has long been considered a major asset of the show as the game highlights usually exceed the typical 15–30-second token package seen on most major networks. This was the case at least until the
NFL Network emerged during the
2003 season
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
and aired shows such as the show ''
Point After'' that showed extended highlight segments.
In the last few years of ''Inside the NFL'', the show decreased its highlight segments, eliminating some low-profile games.
Interviews
Aside from the highlights, ''Inside the NFL'' features in-depth interview segments with various players, coaches and front office personnel. Among the notable segments over the years was
Cris Carter interviewing former coach
Buddy Ryan
James David "Buddy" Ryan (February 17, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). During his 35-season coaching career, Ryan served as the head coach of the ...
. Ryan was Carter's first head coach when both were with the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ryan released Carter with his explanation being the infamous quote ''"All he does is catch touchdowns."'' The interview revealed what some had learned over the years, that Ryan released Carter because of his
substance abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
problems that were affecting his performance but did not want that to become public, lest it hinder Carter's chances to sign with another team. Carter admitted that his release was a wake-up call and saved his life as he became a
born again Christian soon after, and went on to have a successful NFL career with the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
in which he became the NFL's second-leading receiver of all-time.
Production
HBO
The show was taped in a
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
studio on Wednesday and aired at various times throughout the week beginning Wednesday nights at 10 p.m.
Eastern Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...
.
Showtime
The show is taped at NFL Films' headquarters in
Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Mount Laurel is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the South Jersey region. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 41,864, reflecting an increase of 1 ...
on Tuesday and aired at various times throughout the week beginning Tuesday nights at 9 p.m.
Eastern Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...
. Greg Gumbel was replaced in September 2015 by Adam Schein of CBS Sports, with Brown returning in 2016 as host and Schein taking a supporting role.
References
External links
*
*
{{Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show
1977 American television series debuts
1980s American television series
1990s American television series
2000s American television series
2010s American television series
2020s American television series
American sports television series
American television series revived after cancellation
HBO original programming
Showtime (TV network) original programming
National Football League television series
NFL Films
HBO Sports
CBS Sports
English-language television shows
HBO Shows (series) WITHOUT Episode info, list, or Article
Paramount+ original programming