January 15, 2025 • 25 mins
Colts.com writer JJ Stankevitz is joined by Colts Global Ambassador and former linebacker Björn Werner to react to Wednesday's news that the NFL designated the Colts as the home team for its historic 2025 regular season game at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. Werner, a Berlin native, explains what this game means for his country, offers travel tips for Colts fans looking to make the trip this year and discusses the growth of the Colts and NFL in Germany over the last few years.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome into another episode of Instant Reaction presented by Sony,
and we have some very exciting news. On Wednesday, the
NFL announced the Indianapolis Colts will host the first ever
game in Berlin this regular season. The time and date
still to be announced, but to get all the perspective
(00:32):
on the growth of the NFL in Germany, the impact
this game can have, and what to do in Berlin,
I am pleased to welcome to Instant Reaction former Colts
defensive lineman Bjorn Werner, who is a Berlin native. He
is a presenter and analyst for RTLTV in Germany. They
host NFL games over there. He also is the founder
(00:55):
and excuse me, the co founder of Bromance Football in Germany.
He hosts a very popular podcast there as well. Beyond
thanks so much for taking the time, man. Obviously, a
really exciting day here in Indianapolis. But what's the mood
over there in Berlin today right now?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
That's exciting, especially for me obviously as a global ambassador,
as a former cold to have the Indianapolis Courts come
over again. Last time at Frankfurt it wasn't an away game,
but now the Indianapolis Colts are hosting this game, and
it's very exciting. You know. The whole story for me personally,
I grew up in Berlin, made my way over to
the US, played for the Indianapolis Colts now the Indianapolis
(01:34):
Courts many many years later. Come over and I play
a little role. You just said that the travel agent.
I actually liked that a lot, you know, trying to
get coach fans from the US. I'm hopefully excited to
come over and visit. At the same time, get German
football fans from outside of Berlin to come visit Berlin.
That's so it's very exciting. Another step for this game
(01:57):
to grow in Germany and in Europe, and I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
So the Colts in twenty twenty four they were able
to get global marketing rights for the German and Austrian markets.
So there's been a growing partnership between the Colts and
Germany specifically. Obviously you mentioned beyond the Frankfurt game in
twenty twenty three, which was a huge success. One of
(02:23):
my favorite moments from that game was seeing you give
a big bear hug to Bernard Yman after the game.
You know, that was a really cool moment there and
there's a ton of interest in the Colts coming off
of that game. How have you seen maybe over the
last year year and a half the Colts brand grow
in Germany? And the second part of that is what
(02:43):
do you think the Colts hosting a game in Berlin
will do for the Colts global brand specifically then in Germany.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
First of all, I was the only connection that the
Indianapolis Colts had over the last years that was kind
of bigger than just maybe a few fans, was obviously
me being drafted to the Indianapolis Colts, right, So that's
why the Colts' name was always kind of around. There's
some other teams who have the market rights a little longer,
and they kind of had already a strategy to build
(03:16):
their their their brand here in Germany, to continue building
out their brand, and the Colts are not late to
the party, but they came with four other teams later on,
so we have ten total teams and now it's kind
of like like like it's in the NFL, right, it's
a it's a competition of trying to touch the next
NFL fan because we have a lot of NFL fans
who didn't take a team yet that was kind of
(03:38):
crazy over here because we we we kind of on TV.
Our job is to get as many new fans to
football in general, and then they somehow with a touching point,
with an event activation, they somehow get this feeling of hey,
I should support this team. So having a game here
in Berlin and the biggest city in Germany and obviously Berlin,
(04:01):
everybody on the world knows the city of Berlin, how
important it is for this story of the world, the
world history everything, and being in here in this Olympic
Olympia Stadium. It's a traditional stadium, it's it's it's the
biggest stadium, you know, and it's going to be exciting
what we you know, with the Colts and I especially
(04:22):
here in Germany. That's that's the job I have, right
helping the Colts spread out in Germany and in Austria.
And then we are trying to obviously build up to
this game and have underway get as many Colts fans
as possible here in Germany new fans to join this
brand right the horseshoe. So it's a perfect opportunity. Obviously,
(04:44):
when you have the home game, you can spread out
your wings more than the other German market teams, and
that's a great opportunity obviously, just too at the end
of the day, some more merchandising, right, so even more
tickets in the bigger stadium and be in the heads
of all these football fans who don't have a team yet,
you know, to wrap this team maybe and once in
(05:06):
a while maybe they I don't know, a few hundred
people after this game say, oh, I kind of like
the Indianapolis Coats. Somehow I feel like I'm connected to
them and I want to make a trip to Indianapolis.
You know. This is kind of like all these crazy
stories we see every year with football fans in Germany.
Somehow they enter this world of the NFL. And now
the goal of those ten teams being in Germany, the
(05:29):
German market teams is to be the first one to
grab them to become an Indianapolis Coat, right or doing
the Patriot because that's another team who's obviously here for
many years now. So that's the big goal. And that's
a huge advantage to have this exciting game because it's
the announcement itself that this next game is going to
be in the Olympia Stadium was a very big one.
(05:50):
For the NFL. Roger Goodell always wanted to be back
in Berlin after they played a preseason game. I think
the American Ball nineteen ninety one. You know, Munich was nice,
Frankfurt was nice, but Berlin being in the capitol in
the stadium is another level. So being the home team,
it's very very special for the Indianapolis Colts and everybody involved.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
So what about Berlin makes it a special destination? I
think you know, probably our listeners, our viewers know a
couple of things about Berlin, right, you know about the
Berlin Wall. You might know about Carl Lewis in the
nineteen thirty six Olympics at Olympics Stadium. But beyond that,
what about Berlin makes it a special place? And why
should people from Indianapolis go to Berlin for this game?
(06:37):
Give us your pitch?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, So, I mean, Indianapolis been been a while. It's
some big city follow in people from Indiana, but it's
not as big as Berlin. Berlin, it's very spread out.
There's a lot of things you can do besides the
sight seeing, right, the Brent roge Gade and everything that's
that's that's on top thing. But literally in every district.
When you're going to be in Berlin, you can have
(07:02):
a different culture. It's so multicultural like New York kind of, right.
So it's very exciting just to kind of go around
the city and I feel like in every street there's
something else you can experience, and it's so big, and
you can't even if you stay Weakier, you didn't see Berlin,
you know, like you can't see all of Berlin. So
there's so many options and things you can't do. And
(07:22):
especially I know that Americans like historical buildings a lot, right,
the history, the European history behind that. There's a lot
of that in Berlin's though obviously, you know, even after
Berlin and the World War two got bombed a lot,
you know, and then half of the city was destroyed,
there's still a lot of things that remember to this history, right,
and those today are sightseeing to us. So it's exciting
(07:46):
to kind of just see if you never if you
never remember that. A lot of people always told me
on my way twelve years living in the US, man
need to visit Berlin, because when you go to Germany,
you need to visit Berlin. That's your chance. Now supporting
the Indianapolis coast and have a nice vacation on top
of it.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I think that's interesting. You talk about it being almost
like every neighborhood is a different feel, kind of like
New York. I'm from Chicago. Chicago's very much a city
of neighborhoods, and you know, going to like I've been
to Munich and I've been to Frankfurt, and both those
cities did kind of feel like, you know, there's a
lot of history in there. Obviously in Munich, but it
was sort of like I maybe stayed in the city
(08:25):
center so early on here. I know, you know, people,
we don't know exactly when this is going to be yet,
but give Colts fans like maybe the cool little spot
or the cool little neighborhood that might not be in
the city center where all the historic stuff is where
you might be staying, that they should go to and
they should experience.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Oh man, that's so many. But one thing is penns
Lava back. That's kind of more like the hips of
town what we call them now, right, So it's kind
of like the New Berlean area. Obviously, the central location,
it's always the hotspots, right for tourism, But the more
you kind of go outside of their little skirt. There's
enough stuff you can do in the low key where like, hey,
this is not where every tourist is at, but it's
(09:04):
very nice because that's the hospat for the berlinas you know,
the villain people who live there. You know. So what
happened over the last ten years is that a lot
of people just moved. To believe, the cities keep growing
and there's so many new people come to the city
and it constantly changes, and that's the interesting part of it.
So I'm from Berlin. When I grew up in the city,
I grew up in the right in the city. It's
(09:26):
not recognizable anymore, you know, it's it's it's the same
spot and it's called the same but everything changed, you know,
like different type of clean tea different type of people,
like new restaurants. It constantly changes and it's interesting to
see that. And yeah, I mean you have Potsdama plats right,
it's in the middle as well, but it's beautiful. You
have the brennburga gage, you have Alexander Platz this as well.
(09:49):
You have the big TV tower you know, in old buildings,
so bring a lot of time, you know, you have
to have to see a lot, and I feel like
if you'un you can be the city center and to
everything in the day, and Berlin you can't do that. Yeah,
you need a few days.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
What about the stadium? What can you kind of tell
us about Olympic Stadium? I like I kind of mentioned
I know the Karl Lewis in the nineteen thirty six Olympics.
I know one other thing about Olympic Stadium. It's home
to the guy who scored one of my favorite goals
for the United States men's national team, John Brooks, who
hit that header against Ghana in twenty fourteen. I know
he plays for Hertha Berlin. But that's about all I
got on Olympic Stadium. So what's special about that place?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, it's kind of you know, the NFL has been
playing in London fall, I don't know how many years,
over ten years, I feel like, and the Wembley Stadium
is like also like the National Treasure, the soccer stadium,
and it's the same way with the Olympia Stadium there
that's the home of so many different events because they
have the space around the stadium. So I'm expecting a
lot of activities and tailgating thing around the city, you know,
(10:54):
which are a lot of you know, a lot of
activations from different type of companies and the NFL Germany
and Innnapolis Colts. You know, that's something maybe when I
went to Minneapolis in September to commentate that game, that
was the first time I kind of see what's happening
around the stadium during the game, because as a player,
(11:15):
you don't see that, right, So there's not a lot
of space around that stadium, right around the parking lot.
So if you already have the city, the streets Olympic Stadium,
when you just walk towards it, the view of it
is historic, you know, the Olympic Stadium, like the tradition,
and you walk in there you have so much space,
and then the old building you can kind of just
(11:36):
already see through the tunnel and see the inside of
it because it's like a it's like a kind of
like a toilet, you know what I'm saying, Because when
you go from the streets in it's like deep inside
of it already, right, so when you walk straight in,
you're in the middle of it. So it kind of
sits in the ground a little bit. And and Ed
is so big, you know, it's a very big stadium.
Has an opening on the side where the fire is
(11:59):
right the Olympic fire area. So what's unique about this
that a lot of Germans always say it has this
blue track around it around the grass field. That's why
it has a feeling of even bigger, right. So a
lot of soccer fans don't like that obviously, that because
you when you sit down there, like it feels so
(12:19):
far away, right, But it gives you for a football team,
it gives you a lot more space that you need.
The biggest challenge always that like the Aliance Arena and
Munich and Frankwin had that the field was so small,
right with all the football staff on the sidelines in
the field crammed. Now you have enough space, you know
for football team. Is enough that you have enough space.
But what's better it's it's a blue track, you know,
(12:42):
and the Dinnapolis Colts coming it kind of matches. I
managed the blue is gonna do a lot of crazy
stuff on that, you know, and have enough space to
kind of go crazy and have a lot of fun.
So yeah, I'm excited. You know, very big stadium. It
looks still old, you know, they're feeling it's new, but
it feels old. You know. They keep a great job
(13:04):
of maintaining it. And I swear everything when you sit
in there and watch it, you feel the history of it.
I can't even explain it, you know, you just know.
It's kind of weird feeling knowing when you sit in
there and all the history that the stadium hass, you know,
and it's kind of something like, Hey, that's the history
of the world, you know, and that kind of makes
(13:25):
this game, or like when you're in there, the game
a lot more special for some reason.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
I think that probably speaks to just like when you know,
we as Americans go to or Europe and you see
these historic landmarks and you think how many people have
seen these?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
What?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You know, what has happened in front of these, you know,
whether you're in London or Paris or Rome or Madrid
or Berlin. And I think that's a really neat setting
for this game. Now, you mentioned it's it's a big stadium, right,
seventy thousand, about.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Seventy seven thousand, I thinks bigger than that. Yeah, you
can't mix it out a lot. So I feel like
that's what I said that this can be the most
the biggest crowd ever on NFL German game.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yes, that that's kind of what I was. I mean,
that's a big stadium, and what have you seen in
the growth of the NFL in Germany that tells you, hey,
that that's probably going to be sold out. They're going
to sell every ticket to that game. You're obviously you're
right up in it with RTL and you know, I
mean I saw that your your jersey was top ten
(14:28):
in sales in the NFL Germany Shop.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
What about the like the football.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Culture in Germany will bring not just Colts fans there,
but anyone in Germany who cares about the NFL. Hey,
I want to go to that game and see it.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, it's going to be sold out. I'm guaranteeing it
to be sold out. The Panthers Giants game was sold
out in I don't know ten to fifteen minutes. You know,
it's pass German fans. We've been waiting so long for
a game that the few is. When we got that,
everybody it was like, it doesn't matter what kind of
team I'm rapping. I want to be this game because
(15:04):
it's an event, you know, like the German football fans
see it as an event and what's crazy about it,
like it kind of jumped. This game is like once
the hour Super Bowl where it jumps outside of the
football bubble where a lot of so soccer stars, you know,
come visit this game. For all of Europe, a lot
of celebrities want to be part of this game and
(15:24):
just be there because there's always something in Germany. This
this feeling of a America fascinated by you know, the
Big Brother. Obviously, everybody knows this right on a political
view that America, you know, Germany goes along with each other,
and so they'd be part of this game, and everybody
wants to be part of it. It's going to be
(15:45):
sold out and and I already have people requesting obviously
because it's the calls that I can be the I
can be the list maker and get everybody into the stadium,
which I say I can't. I can't get any everybody.
And I hope I get some tickets from the courts now,
but hopefully this game and commentating it, so this makes
it even more special for me. It's a full circle
for me. You know, I'm being selfish right now at
(16:07):
this moment, but for me, this is this is I mean,
it can't get crazy than that. If somebody would have
told me back in the day when I still play,
when I got drafted by the Colts, right, I thought
I'm going to play forever. Right, every NFL player thinks
they're going to be the best and all Pro and
Pro Bowls. It didn't work out. The body didn't give
me the chance, and I gave them a all And
that's that's what it was at the end of the day.
(16:28):
Then a long time there was no connection between the Colts.
I just stood my thing and moved back a few
years years later Germany, back to the family with my
wife and my kids and started this career after their career,
pushing this game on TV. And now all these years later,
you know, I'm a global ambassador for the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts are hosting a game in my in my city,
in my hometown where I grew up watching the NFL
(16:50):
Europe in that stadium when I was twelve. I was
dreaming about being on that field and playing in the
NFL Europe back in the day, right, and now I
just can't kind of not only working on the cold
side as a global ambassador. Hopefully I'm gonna work in
with as a as an analyst, which you know is
never guaranteed. They're gonna tell next year, beginning next year,
who's who's kind of commentating it. But I'm pretty sure
(17:12):
when I'm a global ambassador that ATL is gonna say,
you're gonna commentate that. So all these things just coming
together is a It's a very special moment already, and
it's not even it's another it's like another ten months
or nine months till this game is gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
So I'm excited more of Biorn right after this this
NFL season. Feel every hit, every play, every moment with
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(17:48):
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All right back here with Biorn, Werner and Bor and
I I want to ask you about the the impact
this game can have just on the growth of youth
football in Germany, where you know, I'm sure when you
were growing up, maybe it's a little bit hard to
find a club team to play for or just friends
(18:13):
to talk about football with. How can this game really
elevate maybe a pipeline because you look at you know,
the cult of Marcel Dabo on their roster, obviously Bernard
Ryman being from Austria a year from Germany. Just how
can this game maybe elevate that youth pipeline of people
who are interested in football, who then could play football
and maybe have a shot at making it to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah, that's a great question. Back in the day, it
was a lot tougher to make a jump to the NFL,
and today's a lot more international. You know, there's a
lot of guys from from New York and Germany who
made it since since I left, And once the NFL
decided to come back to Germany, the city's gonna involve, right.
(18:54):
They had this contract out there and say, hey, we
want to play in Germany. Who want it? Give us
a plan? Right, So the cities and the politicians had
to get involved and get budgets and have put a
plan in or like an whole business plan of getting
this game. So I talked to the people of Berlin
for instance, right, you know when we made this announcement
(19:16):
a few weeks back, and there's a lot of money
flowing around that they committed over the next year. Is
because over the next five years they're going to have
three games in Berlin and they're going to invest in
the infrastructure and the schools right to play flag football,
you know, awareness, marketing and all these things. Is the
next step of touching the next bond Wuna in school
(19:38):
and then he taking a series and having the dream
of playing in the NFL one day. So Berna Ryman
like his story right, he's an offensive lineman sometimes the
offensive unsung heroes, but here amazing player for the Indianapolis
because what he's doing that since he got drafted on
the third round Austria, you know, is part of him.
We need to get his story more out there, get
(19:59):
him more in front of the I know not every
NFL player, especially off of the line, and I kind
of want to do that because they're so focused on
their craft, but especially in the off seasons, it's important
for them to speak up right and do some stuff
and do a camp in Germany and Austria and all
these things we're trying to do this year. Master Double
the same way, right, Yeah, he's been in the practice
(20:21):
squad three years in a row. But you know what,
in Germany, not many people made it as far as
what Master Doubble did, right, And even as some some
fans always say like, oh yeah, just a practice work guy,
just a practice work guy, he accomplished so so much
already that other Germans are a lot of Germans were dreaming
of doing one time. Right. Being in the NFL, he
(20:41):
is playing a sport that we always love as kids, right,
the kids game. We're playing a kids game, right, as
we always say. And he's getting paid to do that,
you know. So I know he's thankful and he's a
great guy. But the great guy. The Colts have two
really good character people, you know, and that makes a
lot important, very important on this journey with the home game.
(21:02):
Now we need to get them a farm of the camera.
We have to have them out there and tell them
and sell the franchise, right, the brand, what the codes
are all about?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
So last the next generation, last one is kind of
along those same lines. And you talking about Marcel being
a big deal in Germany because not many Germans, you know,
will make it even onto a practice squad. Like I
think about it as like an American soccer fan, where
I follow Christian Polistic, I follow Weston McKenny, but like
I am locked in on you know, guys who are
(21:34):
in the second division of the you know, the English
football pyramid, because that guy might go play for the
US men's national team. How soon do you think it
could be for Germany to get a legitimate star in
the NFL? Like you mentioned the you know, you're getting
fans kind of incrementally. This is a longer process to
grow the game in Germany. But you know the talent
(21:56):
that Germany has, you were a first round pick. How
long until Germany gets a you know, a guy who
around the league. It's like, this guy's legit. He's not
just a German guy succeeding in the NFL, but he
is a league wide star.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
It's tough obviously to predict, right. What's so tough? American
football is a sport where you have to start young
and being pushed and being competitive. We don't have the
same high school system, right, so we're playing clubs and
then you practice twice or three times a week in
the high school, you practice every day doing the football
season right for the competition levels on another level. So
(22:31):
we need to find ways, which we have done that.
More and more Germans need to go over and play
high school football college football. Right, we never had that
many people being in a system, but it shows you
how tough it is. Doesn't mean just because you have
so many people in the system doesn't mean that you
get the next superstar. It's hard to get up there.
Even for Americans. There's one point four percent who make
(22:53):
it in the NFL from college football players. And I
know harder this, right, I've been there, done that. So
we had a guy, Sebastian Farmer who played for the
Patriots Super Bowl. Shev was the starting right tackle for
Tom Brady. So he he was the superstar doing a
time where it wasn't as big yet any played off
of the line again, right, So the thing is office
(23:13):
life never get the love they should. Right now, we
have Alman russe and Brown for the Detroit Lions, who
is like half German. His mother is German, so obviously
we Germans kind of jump on that and say he's
a little German. But yeah, we are still waiting for
the next first round pick, for the next starter in Germany.
Brennond Ryman is giving that for the Austrian fans to
cheat on right now. So he's doing a great job
(23:36):
for a small country like this, having a starting left
tackle in the NFL and doing a pretty good job. So, yeah,
we're in Germany. We're waiting for the next star to become.
How the faster we kind of built this infrastructure to
get more people or continuously building the pipeline in the
US and get them over and support them there. The
(23:57):
faster it's going to happen. But right now it's still
like even though we never had as many people over
there than ever before, there's no support, there's no there's
no be a path here in Germany with an organization
where it's the NFL may be doing it, you know.
Datafel kind of just puts stuff into the system, right,
and they're trying to build a flag football system. But
(24:20):
we need to really like a hands on identifying at
a young age and push it right and and and
and help them with the paperwork to be the stuff.
I'm telling you, it's a lot of headache for a
German or international person to go over to play college football,
right with all the stuff that's that you have to
fill out and and and get through. It's it's it's
(24:43):
not that easy. So if we if we can kind
of uh stop that, you know, and and support in
this area, maybe we are going to be a lot
better off in the next few years.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
That's a great perspective.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Born.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Thanks for joining us here on this episode of Instant
Reaction presented by So. You can follow Biorn on Instagram.
You can listen to the Football Bromance podcast, which I
hear is quite popular over in Germany and for all
of our international fans maybe watching this definitely go check
out everything that Biorn does for RTL and all of
his media outlets. Bijorn, thanks again so much. We will
(25:17):
see you in twenty twenty five in your home.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yes soon, yes, yes soon.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
All right, Colts fans, our regular season is over. But
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(25:45):
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Welcome into another episode of Instant Reaction presented by Sony,
and we have some very exciting news. On Wednesday, the
NFL announced the Indianapolis Colts will host the first ever
game in Berlin this regular season. The time and date
still to be announced, but to get all the perspective
(00:32):
on the growth of the NFL in Germany, the impact
this game can have, and what to do in Berlin,
I am pleased to welcome to Instant Reaction former Colts
defensive lineman Bjorn Werner, who is a Berlin native. He
is a presenter and analyst for RTLTV in Germany. They
host NFL games over there. He also is the founder
(00:55):
and excuse me, the co founder of Bromance Football in Germany.
He hosts a very popular podcast there as well. Beyond
thanks so much for taking the time, man. Obviously, a
really exciting day here in Indianapolis. But what's the mood
over there in Berlin today right now?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
That's exciting, especially for me obviously as a global ambassador,
as a former cold to have the Indianapolis Courts come
over again. Last time at Frankfurt it wasn't an away game,
but now the Indianapolis Colts are hosting this game, and
it's very exciting. You know. The whole story for me personally,
I grew up in Berlin, made my way over to
the US, played for the Indianapolis Colts now the Indianapolis
(01:34):
Courts many many years later. Come over and I play
a little role. You just said that the travel agent.
I actually liked that a lot, you know, trying to
get coach fans from the US. I'm hopefully excited to
come over and visit. At the same time, get German
football fans from outside of Berlin to come visit Berlin.
That's so it's very exciting. Another step for this game
(01:57):
to grow in Germany and in Europe, and I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
So the Colts in twenty twenty four they were able
to get global marketing rights for the German and Austrian markets.
So there's been a growing partnership between the Colts and
Germany specifically. Obviously you mentioned beyond the Frankfurt game in
twenty twenty three, which was a huge success. One of
(02:23):
my favorite moments from that game was seeing you give
a big bear hug to Bernard Yman after the game.
You know, that was a really cool moment there and
there's a ton of interest in the Colts coming off
of that game. How have you seen maybe over the
last year year and a half the Colts brand grow
in Germany? And the second part of that is what
(02:43):
do you think the Colts hosting a game in Berlin
will do for the Colts global brand specifically then in Germany.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
First of all, I was the only connection that the
Indianapolis Colts had over the last years that was kind
of bigger than just maybe a few fans, was obviously
me being drafted to the Indianapolis Colts, right, So that's
why the Colts' name was always kind of around. There's
some other teams who have the market rights a little longer,
and they kind of had already a strategy to build
(03:16):
their their their brand here in Germany, to continue building
out their brand, and the Colts are not late to
the party, but they came with four other teams later on,
so we have ten total teams and now it's kind
of like like like it's in the NFL, right, it's
a it's a competition of trying to touch the next
NFL fan because we have a lot of NFL fans
who didn't take a team yet that was kind of
(03:38):
crazy over here because we we we kind of on TV.
Our job is to get as many new fans to
football in general, and then they somehow with a touching point,
with an event activation, they somehow get this feeling of hey,
I should support this team. So having a game here
in Berlin and the biggest city in Germany and obviously Berlin,
(04:01):
everybody on the world knows the city of Berlin, how
important it is for this story of the world, the
world history everything, and being in here in this Olympic
Olympia Stadium. It's a traditional stadium, it's it's it's the
biggest stadium, you know, and it's going to be exciting
what we you know, with the Colts and I especially
(04:22):
here in Germany. That's that's the job I have, right
helping the Colts spread out in Germany and in Austria.
And then we are trying to obviously build up to
this game and have underway get as many Colts fans
as possible here in Germany new fans to join this
brand right the horseshoe. So it's a perfect opportunity. Obviously,
(04:44):
when you have the home game, you can spread out
your wings more than the other German market teams, and
that's a great opportunity obviously, just too at the end
of the day, some more merchandising, right, so even more
tickets in the bigger stadium and be in the heads
of all these football fans who don't have a team yet,
you know, to wrap this team maybe and once in
(05:06):
a while maybe they I don't know, a few hundred
people after this game say, oh, I kind of like
the Indianapolis Coats. Somehow I feel like I'm connected to
them and I want to make a trip to Indianapolis.
You know. This is kind of like all these crazy
stories we see every year with football fans in Germany.
Somehow they enter this world of the NFL. And now
the goal of those ten teams being in Germany, the
(05:29):
German market teams is to be the first one to
grab them to become an Indianapolis Coat, right or doing
the Patriot because that's another team who's obviously here for
many years now. So that's the big goal. And that's
a huge advantage to have this exciting game because it's
the announcement itself that this next game is going to
be in the Olympia Stadium was a very big one.
(05:50):
For the NFL. Roger Goodell always wanted to be back
in Berlin after they played a preseason game. I think
the American Ball nineteen ninety one. You know, Munich was nice,
Frankfurt was nice, but Berlin being in the capitol in
the stadium is another level. So being the home team,
it's very very special for the Indianapolis Colts and everybody involved.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
So what about Berlin makes it a special destination? I
think you know, probably our listeners, our viewers know a
couple of things about Berlin, right, you know about the
Berlin Wall. You might know about Carl Lewis in the
nineteen thirty six Olympics at Olympics Stadium. But beyond that,
what about Berlin makes it a special place? And why
should people from Indianapolis go to Berlin for this game?
(06:37):
Give us your pitch?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, So, I mean, Indianapolis been been a while. It's
some big city follow in people from Indiana, but it's
not as big as Berlin. Berlin, it's very spread out.
There's a lot of things you can do besides the
sight seeing, right, the Brent roge Gade and everything that's
that's that's on top thing. But literally in every district.
When you're going to be in Berlin, you can have
(07:02):
a different culture. It's so multicultural like New York kind of, right.
So it's very exciting just to kind of go around
the city and I feel like in every street there's
something else you can experience, and it's so big, and
you can't even if you stay Weakier, you didn't see Berlin,
you know, like you can't see all of Berlin. So
there's so many options and things you can't do. And
(07:22):
especially I know that Americans like historical buildings a lot, right,
the history, the European history behind that. There's a lot
of that in Berlin's though obviously, you know, even after
Berlin and the World War two got bombed a lot,
you know, and then half of the city was destroyed,
there's still a lot of things that remember to this history, right,
and those today are sightseeing to us. So it's exciting
(07:46):
to kind of just see if you never if you
never remember that. A lot of people always told me
on my way twelve years living in the US, man
need to visit Berlin, because when you go to Germany,
you need to visit Berlin. That's your chance. Now supporting
the Indianapolis coast and have a nice vacation on top
of it.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I think that's interesting. You talk about it being almost
like every neighborhood is a different feel, kind of like
New York. I'm from Chicago. Chicago's very much a city
of neighborhoods, and you know, going to like I've been
to Munich and I've been to Frankfurt, and both those
cities did kind of feel like, you know, there's a
lot of history in there. Obviously in Munich, but it
was sort of like I maybe stayed in the city
(08:25):
center so early on here. I know, you know, people,
we don't know exactly when this is going to be yet,
but give Colts fans like maybe the cool little spot
or the cool little neighborhood that might not be in
the city center where all the historic stuff is where
you might be staying, that they should go to and
they should experience.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Oh man, that's so many. But one thing is penns
Lava back. That's kind of more like the hips of
town what we call them now, right, So it's kind
of like the New Berlean area. Obviously, the central location,
it's always the hotspots, right for tourism, But the more
you kind of go outside of their little skirt. There's
enough stuff you can do in the low key where like, hey,
this is not where every tourist is at, but it's
(09:04):
very nice because that's the hospat for the berlinas you know,
the villain people who live there. You know. So what
happened over the last ten years is that a lot
of people just moved. To believe, the cities keep growing
and there's so many new people come to the city
and it constantly changes, and that's the interesting part of it.
So I'm from Berlin. When I grew up in the city,
I grew up in the right in the city. It's
(09:26):
not recognizable anymore, you know, it's it's it's the same
spot and it's called the same but everything changed, you know,
like different type of clean tea different type of people,
like new restaurants. It constantly changes and it's interesting to
see that. And yeah, I mean you have Potsdama plats right,
it's in the middle as well, but it's beautiful. You
have the brennburga gage, you have Alexander Platz this as well.
(09:49):
You have the big TV tower you know, in old buildings,
so bring a lot of time, you know, you have
to have to see a lot, and I feel like
if you'un you can be the city center and to
everything in the day, and Berlin you can't do that. Yeah,
you need a few days.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
What about the stadium? What can you kind of tell
us about Olympic Stadium? I like I kind of mentioned
I know the Karl Lewis in the nineteen thirty six Olympics.
I know one other thing about Olympic Stadium. It's home
to the guy who scored one of my favorite goals
for the United States men's national team, John Brooks, who
hit that header against Ghana in twenty fourteen. I know
he plays for Hertha Berlin. But that's about all I
got on Olympic Stadium. So what's special about that place?
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, it's kind of you know, the NFL has been
playing in London fall, I don't know how many years,
over ten years, I feel like, and the Wembley Stadium
is like also like the National Treasure, the soccer stadium,
and it's the same way with the Olympia Stadium there
that's the home of so many different events because they
have the space around the stadium. So I'm expecting a
lot of activities and tailgating thing around the city, you know,
(10:54):
which are a lot of you know, a lot of
activations from different type of companies and the NFL Germany
and Innnapolis Colts. You know, that's something maybe when I
went to Minneapolis in September to commentate that game, that
was the first time I kind of see what's happening
around the stadium during the game, because as a player,
(11:15):
you don't see that, right, So there's not a lot
of space around that stadium, right around the parking lot.
So if you already have the city, the streets Olympic Stadium,
when you just walk towards it, the view of it
is historic, you know, the Olympic Stadium, like the tradition,
and you walk in there you have so much space,
and then the old building you can kind of just
(11:36):
already see through the tunnel and see the inside of
it because it's like a it's like a kind of
like a toilet, you know what I'm saying, Because when
you go from the streets in it's like deep inside
of it already, right, so when you walk straight in,
you're in the middle of it. So it kind of
sits in the ground a little bit. And and Ed
is so big, you know, it's a very big stadium.
Has an opening on the side where the fire is
(11:59):
right the Olympic fire area. So what's unique about this
that a lot of Germans always say it has this
blue track around it around the grass field. That's why
it has a feeling of even bigger, right. So a
lot of soccer fans don't like that obviously, that because
you when you sit down there, like it feels so
(12:19):
far away, right, But it gives you for a football team,
it gives you a lot more space that you need.
The biggest challenge always that like the Aliance Arena and
Munich and Frankwin had that the field was so small,
right with all the football staff on the sidelines in
the field crammed. Now you have enough space, you know
for football team. Is enough that you have enough space.
But what's better it's it's a blue track, you know,
(12:42):
and the Dinnapolis Colts coming it kind of matches. I
managed the blue is gonna do a lot of crazy
stuff on that, you know, and have enough space to
kind of go crazy and have a lot of fun.
So yeah, I'm excited. You know, very big stadium. It
looks still old, you know, they're feeling it's new, but
it feels old. You know. They keep a great job
(13:04):
of maintaining it. And I swear everything when you sit
in there and watch it, you feel the history of it.
I can't even explain it, you know, you just know.
It's kind of weird feeling knowing when you sit in
there and all the history that the stadium hass, you know,
and it's kind of something like, Hey, that's the history
of the world, you know, and that kind of makes
(13:25):
this game, or like when you're in there, the game
a lot more special for some reason.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
I think that probably speaks to just like when you know,
we as Americans go to or Europe and you see
these historic landmarks and you think how many people have
seen these?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
What?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You know, what has happened in front of these, you know,
whether you're in London or Paris or Rome or Madrid
or Berlin. And I think that's a really neat setting
for this game. Now, you mentioned it's it's a big stadium, right,
seventy thousand, about.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Seventy seven thousand, I thinks bigger than that. Yeah, you
can't mix it out a lot. So I feel like
that's what I said that this can be the most
the biggest crowd ever on NFL German game.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yes, that that's kind of what I was. I mean,
that's a big stadium, and what have you seen in
the growth of the NFL in Germany that tells you, hey,
that that's probably going to be sold out. They're going
to sell every ticket to that game. You're obviously you're
right up in it with RTL and you know, I
mean I saw that your your jersey was top ten
(14:28):
in sales in the NFL Germany Shop.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
What about the like the football.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Culture in Germany will bring not just Colts fans there,
but anyone in Germany who cares about the NFL. Hey,
I want to go to that game and see it.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, it's going to be sold out. I'm guaranteeing it
to be sold out. The Panthers Giants game was sold
out in I don't know ten to fifteen minutes. You know,
it's pass German fans. We've been waiting so long for
a game that the few is. When we got that,
everybody it was like, it doesn't matter what kind of
team I'm rapping. I want to be this game because
(15:04):
it's an event, you know, like the German football fans
see it as an event and what's crazy about it,
like it kind of jumped. This game is like once
the hour Super Bowl where it jumps outside of the
football bubble where a lot of so soccer stars, you know,
come visit this game. For all of Europe, a lot
of celebrities want to be part of this game and
(15:24):
just be there because there's always something in Germany. This
this feeling of a America fascinated by you know, the
Big Brother. Obviously, everybody knows this right on a political
view that America, you know, Germany goes along with each other,
and so they'd be part of this game, and everybody
wants to be part of it. It's going to be
(15:45):
sold out and and I already have people requesting obviously
because it's the calls that I can be the I
can be the list maker and get everybody into the stadium,
which I say I can't. I can't get any everybody.
And I hope I get some tickets from the courts now,
but hopefully this game and commentating it, so this makes
it even more special for me. It's a full circle
for me. You know, I'm being selfish right now at
(16:07):
this moment, but for me, this is this is I mean,
it can't get crazy than that. If somebody would have
told me back in the day when I still play,
when I got drafted by the Colts, right, I thought
I'm going to play forever. Right, every NFL player thinks
they're going to be the best and all Pro and
Pro Bowls. It didn't work out. The body didn't give
me the chance, and I gave them a all And
that's that's what it was at the end of the day.
(16:28):
Then a long time there was no connection between the Colts.
I just stood my thing and moved back a few
years years later Germany, back to the family with my
wife and my kids and started this career after their career,
pushing this game on TV. And now all these years later,
you know, I'm a global ambassador for the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts are hosting a game in my in my city,
in my hometown where I grew up watching the NFL
(16:50):
Europe in that stadium when I was twelve. I was
dreaming about being on that field and playing in the
NFL Europe back in the day, right, and now I
just can't kind of not only working on the cold
side as a global ambassador. Hopefully I'm gonna work in
with as a as an analyst, which you know is
never guaranteed. They're gonna tell next year, beginning next year,
who's who's kind of commentating it. But I'm pretty sure
(17:12):
when I'm a global ambassador that ATL is gonna say,
you're gonna commentate that. So all these things just coming
together is a It's a very special moment already, and
it's not even it's another it's like another ten months
or nine months till this game is gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
So I'm excited more of Biorn right after this this
NFL season. Feel every hit, every play, every moment with
the Sony one thousand XM five noise canceling headphones, the
official headphones of the Indianapolis Colts with premium noise cancelation.
You're in the zone, no distractions, just pure football, whether
(17:48):
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All right back here with Biorn, Werner and Bor and
I I want to ask you about the the impact
this game can have just on the growth of youth
football in Germany, where you know, I'm sure when you
were growing up, maybe it's a little bit hard to
find a club team to play for or just friends
(18:13):
to talk about football with. How can this game really
elevate maybe a pipeline because you look at you know,
the cult of Marcel Dabo on their roster, obviously Bernard
Ryman being from Austria a year from Germany. Just how
can this game maybe elevate that youth pipeline of people
who are interested in football, who then could play football
and maybe have a shot at making it to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah, that's a great question. Back in the day, it
was a lot tougher to make a jump to the NFL,
and today's a lot more international. You know, there's a
lot of guys from from New York and Germany who
made it since since I left, And once the NFL
decided to come back to Germany, the city's gonna involve, right.
(18:54):
They had this contract out there and say, hey, we
want to play in Germany. Who want it? Give us
a plan? Right, So the cities and the politicians had
to get involved and get budgets and have put a
plan in or like an whole business plan of getting
this game. So I talked to the people of Berlin
for instance, right, you know when we made this announcement
(19:16):
a few weeks back, and there's a lot of money
flowing around that they committed over the next year. Is
because over the next five years they're going to have
three games in Berlin and they're going to invest in
the infrastructure and the schools right to play flag football,
you know, awareness, marketing and all these things. Is the
next step of touching the next bond Wuna in school
(19:38):
and then he taking a series and having the dream
of playing in the NFL one day. So Berna Ryman
like his story right, he's an offensive lineman sometimes the
offensive unsung heroes, but here amazing player for the Indianapolis
because what he's doing that since he got drafted on
the third round Austria, you know, is part of him.
We need to get his story more out there, get
(19:59):
him more in front of the I know not every
NFL player, especially off of the line, and I kind
of want to do that because they're so focused on
their craft, but especially in the off seasons, it's important
for them to speak up right and do some stuff
and do a camp in Germany and Austria and all
these things we're trying to do this year. Master Double
the same way, right, Yeah, he's been in the practice
(20:21):
squad three years in a row. But you know what,
in Germany, not many people made it as far as
what Master Doubble did, right, And even as some some
fans always say like, oh yeah, just a practice work guy,
just a practice work guy, he accomplished so so much
already that other Germans are a lot of Germans were dreaming
of doing one time. Right. Being in the NFL, he
(20:41):
is playing a sport that we always love as kids, right,
the kids game. We're playing a kids game, right, as
we always say. And he's getting paid to do that,
you know. So I know he's thankful and he's a
great guy. But the great guy. The Colts have two
really good character people, you know, and that makes a
lot important, very important on this journey with the home game.
(21:02):
Now we need to get them a farm of the camera.
We have to have them out there and tell them
and sell the franchise, right, the brand, what the codes
are all about?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
So last the next generation, last one is kind of
along those same lines. And you talking about Marcel being
a big deal in Germany because not many Germans, you know,
will make it even onto a practice squad. Like I
think about it as like an American soccer fan, where
I follow Christian Polistic, I follow Weston McKenny, but like
I am locked in on you know, guys who are
(21:34):
in the second division of the you know, the English
football pyramid, because that guy might go play for the
US men's national team. How soon do you think it
could be for Germany to get a legitimate star in
the NFL? Like you mentioned the you know, you're getting
fans kind of incrementally. This is a longer process to
grow the game in Germany. But you know the talent
(21:56):
that Germany has, you were a first round pick. How
long until Germany gets a you know, a guy who
around the league. It's like, this guy's legit. He's not
just a German guy succeeding in the NFL, but he
is a league wide star.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
It's tough obviously to predict, right. What's so tough? American
football is a sport where you have to start young
and being pushed and being competitive. We don't have the
same high school system, right, so we're playing clubs and
then you practice twice or three times a week in
the high school, you practice every day doing the football
season right for the competition levels on another level. So
(22:31):
we need to find ways, which we have done that.
More and more Germans need to go over and play
high school football college football. Right, we never had that
many people being in a system, but it shows you
how tough it is. Doesn't mean just because you have
so many people in the system doesn't mean that you
get the next superstar. It's hard to get up there.
Even for Americans. There's one point four percent who make
(22:53):
it in the NFL from college football players. And I
know harder this, right, I've been there, done that. So
we had a guy, Sebastian Farmer who played for the
Patriots Super Bowl. Shev was the starting right tackle for
Tom Brady. So he he was the superstar doing a
time where it wasn't as big yet any played off
of the line again, right, So the thing is office
(23:13):
life never get the love they should. Right now, we
have Alman russe and Brown for the Detroit Lions, who
is like half German. His mother is German, so obviously
we Germans kind of jump on that and say he's
a little German. But yeah, we are still waiting for
the next first round pick, for the next starter in Germany.
Brennond Ryman is giving that for the Austrian fans to
cheat on right now. So he's doing a great job
(23:36):
for a small country like this, having a starting left
tackle in the NFL and doing a pretty good job. So, yeah,
we're in Germany. We're waiting for the next star to become.
How the faster we kind of built this infrastructure to
get more people or continuously building the pipeline in the
US and get them over and support them there. The
(23:57):
faster it's going to happen. But right now it's still
like even though we never had as many people over
there than ever before, there's no support, there's no there's
no be a path here in Germany with an organization
where it's the NFL may be doing it, you know.
Datafel kind of just puts stuff into the system, right,
and they're trying to build a flag football system. But
(24:20):
we need to really like a hands on identifying at
a young age and push it right and and and
and help them with the paperwork to be the stuff.
I'm telling you, it's a lot of headache for a
German or international person to go over to play college football,
right with all the stuff that's that you have to
fill out and and and get through. It's it's it's
(24:43):
not that easy. So if we if we can kind
of uh stop that, you know, and and support in
this area, maybe we are going to be a lot
better off in the next few years.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
That's a great perspective.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Born.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Thanks for joining us here on this episode of Instant
Reaction presented by So. You can follow Biorn on Instagram.
You can listen to the Football Bromance podcast, which I
hear is quite popular over in Germany and for all
of our international fans maybe watching this definitely go check
out everything that Biorn does for RTL and all of
his media outlets. Bijorn, thanks again so much. We will
(25:17):
see you in twenty twenty five in your home.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yes soon, yes, yes soon.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
All right, Colts fans, our regular season is over. But
these Sony noise canceling headphones were huge for me on
the road all year. The premium noise cancelation helped me
stay locked in when I was recording my podcast with
Bill after games, whether I was transcribing interviews on the
plane or just listening to music and hanging out while
on the road. These things came up big for me
(25:45):
all year. These are my favorite headphones I've ever owned.
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