Clint Oldenburg: Chronicling the Media's Workweek

By: The Football Girl | Posted: December 15, 2010

Since I recently took a tongue-in-cheek shot at some of the bad questions media folks tend to ask, I'd like to acknowledge the hard work they put in on any given NFL week.  I think it may be tougher than fans think.

The media’s week begins on the same day our week starts, Wednesday.  That's the first day of game-planning and practice, as well as the first day the media really starts to chronicle the upcoming game.  For about 30 minutes before practice, they have access to the locker room to speak with anybody in there.  They also get to watch the first 15 minutes of practice, which they mainly use to see who's practicing and who is injured.  Wednesday seems to be the day to get any comments from the upcoming opponent too.  For example, prior to our game against the Colts, certain members of the media were invited to join a conference call with Peyton Manning followed by Jim Caldwell.  Following the Wednesday practice, the media gets its most extensive interview with the head coach, usually lasting as long as 20 minutes (although some have said Mike Shanahan seems to be on the shorter side).  

For us, Thursday is generally our hardest and most physical practice of the week.  For the media, it’s a great day to get in all the follow-up questions from Wednesday and decide what the week's main story lines are going to be (if not already obvious).  And  they pay special attention to Thursday’s injury report. Every team has to release an injury report every day by rule, and the Thursday injury report is very important to the coverage of the game since it allows the press to speculate on who will and who won't play.  Obviously that information is crucial to fantasy players and sports gamblers alike – and the real fans may care too!  The schedule for Thursday is essentially the same for the media as Wednesday, although they have one or two more press conferences set up with players depending on the week.

Outside of Sunday, Friday is really the big work day for the beat writers, reporters and TV analysts of the NFL.  The media gets access to the entire Friday-practice in addition to the same locker room access they've enjoyed all week.  And the injury report takes on a whole new importance.   All the people covering the TV aspect of the game, the announcers, sideline reporters, etc. will be at practice to preview what they will talk about come Sunday and look for special tidbits to liven up the broadcast.

In regards to team access, Friday really ends the face-to-face coverage for the week.  Saturday is the day for the media to write-up all their pre-game pieces and put the finishing touches on that one big piece that will go out Sunday morning.  Really the only coverage that occurs on Saturday regarding us is the production meeting Saturday night.  The broadcast team is always granted about 30 minutes at each team hotel the night before the game to talk to a couple guys who they know they want to talk about.  I've never been in one of these meetings, but from what I understand they are pretty lighthearted and provide color to the broadcast.

Then comes Sunday.  I can't imagine covering an NFL game, with everything going on and all the different topics to cover.  But there are plenty of media members at every game to make sure they don't miss a thing.  There are dozens of people on the sideline pre-game.  Some, like team-employed media, beat writers, photographers and cameramen, stay down there the whole game.  Everybody else is press box bound.  Only the TV sideline reporter has access to anybody during the game, which must be cleared by the team first.  After the game, we get 15 minutes in the locker room alone before the press is allowed in.  Once they are allowed in the locker room, they are in there until they're done.  Those post-game interviews are always difficult after a loss and usually pretty short after a win. 

The coverage of the NFL is extensive and not easy.  The schedule and access I've outlined above is the reason you as fans will never be out of the NFL loop.  You will know everything about your team every week and it’s because the media does an dogged job getting as much information as possible out to the public.

HAIL

Any media members reading this? Please correct me if I’ve left anything out.

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