In broadcasting, you're pretty much married to your job.
— Rich Eisen
Everybody has a corporate structure.
When I was at ESPN, I would say in April, 'We should be doing something on the NFL,' and they laughed at me.
Nothing is better than getting sick kids better.
So many people in my business go through W.W.C.D? What Would Costas Do? There are many things that I do on the air that make me think, 'That's not filled with much gravitas right there.' That's part of my style.
Thanks to the proliferation of information being consumed on mobile devices and the Internet, management changed 'SportsCenter' from being a show where highlights and storytelling ruled the day to a show where analysts ruled the day.
A lot of celebrities promote their films to entertainment reporters and feel like they need to entertain them.
The NFL is part of the pop culture landscape, so sports fans don't bat an eye when you stop in the middle of a piece to talk about a new movie.
The Draft is about the re-generation of hope and excitement for teams. Every pick your team makes could be the next Tom Brady. He could be the guy who turns around the fortune of the franchise.
I realized early on in my life that I couldn't hit the curve or throw the 50-yard post pattern, so talking about it would be my way in.
Sports is the ultimate escape, the ultimate in reality programming. It's true drama. You really don't know what's going to happen.
To be able to come out to Southern California, talk football, and have the ability to also have conversations with celebrities who love football, it's been a dream, and I never once thought, 'Well, this is a lot of pressure.'
I try to put myself in the position of the fan and the fan in my position. So to be somebody in the stands and be just like everyone else as opposed to having a press pass around my neck is pretty fun.
Right before I left ESPN, someone suggested doing a NFL story in the spring. The person was laughed out of the room.
We just have fun with our NFL Draft coverage because we understand that it's a long process, and there can be technical glitches that we don't profess to ignore. During our late coverage of the Draft, we sometimes get slap-happy and distort the heads of our analysts.
Someone who's honest about their golf game, I think, is a person who's right in the world.
Italian wines are my favorites. I like a big, booming red wine that blows your taste buds away.
I had doors slammed in my face; I had a lot of news directors who wouldn't give me the time of day. Some told me I wouldn't have a future in the business.
Everybody is owned by somebody.
What better way to have somebody promote their movie, their show, or their album than to come on in a relaxed, easy environment and show their fans that they are just like them?
I have a competitive streak.
I'm a fine wine: I just get better with age. Actually, I'm like the Benjamin Button of the Combine. The older I get, the younger I look and feel.
By the time I left ESPN in 2003, 'SportsCenter' had become a far different show than the one I initially joined in 1996.
Good late-night humor can work at any time of the day.
I am definitely not the first person with a sports program to have a Hollywood star come on, but I don't know of any that does it as a staple of the program, which is something we are trying to do.
It's my job to take the fans sitting at home on their couch and put them in my shoes.
The NFL has captured the casual fan.
There's no greater cause in the world than finding cures for our sickest children. And no one does that better than St. Jude because its families never have to worry about paying the hospital for anything.
The days of a tennis champion as a gender rights leader are over.
I don't think people are keen to have Coldplay tell me about Cam Newton's red zone option.
I'd call the play-by-play of the action when me and my friends played street ball.
There is a lot of information to know, but I prepare for the NFL Draft by coming to work every day.
I just love hanging out with good company on a great, fun golf course.
In the sports world it's all about argument. It's all about having a hot take. The other person has to have the polar opposite opinion, and you bash them together. To me it is an outlier to have a conversation be the basis of why you are listening.
I always thought that first jump from a small market should be as big as possible. But never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be ESPN.
I might have been one of the first 'SportsCenter' anchors that complained that I wrote this great lead-in setting up a highlight, and that as I'm doing it, on camera, the final score is scrolling underneath my head.
Being a huge football fan, the chance to work for the NFL and do a show combining sports and entertainment is truly a dream come true.
Nothing trumps good conversation.
Celebrities love the NFL just as much as the guy who paints his face every week.
When I'm at the game, I try to put the fans into my shoes. I'm snapping pictures right and left.
I have some guests who get angry when they don't get to talk about sports and have to talk about the project they are promoting.
There are hundreds of millions of people on dating apps every day, but apparently, no such apps cater solely to sports fans.
People are tuning in for one reason and one reason only: to find out what's happened. That's what took me a very long time at 'SportsCenter' to figure out.
The raw emotion and physical nature of the NFL definitely push a lot of peoples' buttons. It's played once a week, so every game is important.
I'm living the dream, man.
The days of the heavyweight champion as civil rights leader are long gone. You think you'd see Ali rolling around on the floor of an ESPN Zone? I don't think so.
Sports is part of the pop culture landscape in this country, just like music and television and movies.
I love having the ability to do podcasts because of the long format, informality, and the opportunity to decide what is said, how the show is laid out, and who the guests are.
I talk about the NFL Draft on a daily basis because this is the sport I cover - this is the show I do - and I talk about everything that's taking place every single day.
I try to ask the questions I think fans want to hear and just have a good, relaxed conversation.
