March 24, 2023 • 19 mins
On this episode of "The Snap," Sydney Jones is joined by NFL Network’s Good Morning Football Host Jamie Erdahl to celebrate Women’s History Month by discussing her role at NFL Network, how she’s seen women become more represented since she entered the industry and more. Erdahl also talks about the Broncos’ free agency moves and her expectations for the team this year. Want more of "The Snap"? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you find your podcasts. Make sure to leave a rating and review.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey to succorting a sudden Hey listen, Tim Pastor. Are
(00:02):
you listening it to the SNAT with Sidney Jones on
Broncos Podcast Network year Listen, Francis Country. Welcome back to
the Broncos Podcast Network in YouTube for the latest episode
of The Snap. I'm your host Sidney Jones, and joining
me on today's episode is NFL Networks Jamie Hurdle. Jamie
is a host of NFL Networks Emmy Award winning show
(00:22):
Good Morning Football. Jamie. Such a pleasure to have you
on the podcast today. Thank you so much for taking
the time to join me. Thank you, Sidney. It's awesome
to meet you and talk a little football in the offseason. Yeah,
you too, and appreciate you taking the time in the
middle of March madness, Jamie. I know I said this
to you before we started recording, but you've been crushing
it on CBS the past week. Thank you. I appreciate it,
(00:43):
you know, all for the love of football, you know,
for a three hundred and sixty five plus. But there
is a special place in my heart for March in
basketball and I had I was so lucky I was
in Columbus for the first round. I saw Fairlie Dickinson
beat Perdue and Michigan State push their way all the
way to Madison Square Garden. So I was really lucky
just to be on site too. I think being in
(01:04):
a live sporting event environment is always really fun and
it's refreshing to get there. So it was really great.
Thank you for sure. It's been a crazy tournament so
far the matter. Yeah, yes, exactly. Yeah, I think this
will be the first year I don't quite know the cutoff,
but potentially the first year that the national champion would
be outside like the top four seeds or something like that.
(01:24):
So I think the good is growing for sure. Well, Jamie,
as many of my listeners know here on this snap,
you know, one of the main goals is to highlight
woman's impact in and around the NFL. So for this
week's episode, really want to dive in and celebrate women's
history months. So appreciate you joining me for this week
to be the guest to celebrate that. So to start, Jamie,
I mean, can you just tell me a little bit
(01:44):
about your roles both with NFL Network and CBS Sports
and kind of with those entail Sure. Yeah, Well, I'm
a sports broadcaster by trade, I was at CBS for
eight football seasons. That's my calendar clock, if you will,
before I came to NFL Network. My first at CBS
were spent on the NFL sidelines. I worked with Craig
Gumbel and Trank Green. And then my last four at CBS,
(02:07):
I was on the SEC on CBS, so covering the
best game in college football arguably every Saturday afternoon on CBS.
And those are my eight years and I learned so
much football in those times, in those games and the
players and the coaches and just the xs and o's
of the game and working with some of the best
play by playing analysts on a great network. But I
(02:28):
thought there was more to be had. You know. Sideline
reporting is a really special and specific skill that promotes
and helps every broadcast and shares information about teams that
sometimes I know, we are blessed with a lot of cameras,
but sometimes you just can't see it all. So I
really really love being able to do that. But Good
Morning Football had so quickly become a show that's known
(02:49):
for fun and creative ways to look at the NFL
year round, and hosting as a woman in sports, I
think is a vital skill and I looked at it
as you know, once I know that I could have
the skill of working fifteen hours of live television every
week talking about the NFL, if I can hang in
(03:10):
that environment, in that arena, no one can take that
skill for me once I'm able to, you know, get
that under my belt. So it was a it was
hard to leave CBS and all of the wonderful positions
that they put me in within the game of football.
But I also don't think I ever would have been
qualified enough to have this job at Good Morning Football
now had CBS not been so good to me. So
(03:30):
it feels like a really nice, like kind of connective
tissue moment between the two networks. I know, they still
work together on some stuff, which is great, and it's
allowed me the opportunity, you know, nap Elison to go
from Good Morning Football to CBS, So there is a
pathway there and so but specifically as what I as
it pertains to what I do every day now, Like
(03:51):
it just felt like the right moment at after ten
years in television just to say, like I really want
to host and I want to make sure that I
know that I can do this, you know, for myself, absolutely, Yeah,
I know you joined Good Morning Football back in July
last year twenty twenty two, was you know, your first
NFL season on the show. It was amazing. It was
(04:12):
an absolute like Roland and had like this avalanche effect
to it that like it just kept growing and it
wasn't stopping and there was no stopping it, and it
was like you better ride with it or you're gonna
get totally taken down by it. It was a couple
really interesting aspects to it that, as I look back
on it, is just to be able to start on
(04:32):
the same day with Jason mccordy, someone who had done
very little to no television, and then as a crew,
you know, we traveled to London and we traveled to Munich,
and we were in both of those places for really
historic weeks of football for the league and for the network.
And it was the Munich trip that Jason and I
really kind of got to sit down because this was
(04:52):
mid November by then, and he looked at me and said,
I've learned so much television from you and I've ever
heard It was such a compliment to me to hear
that I had never no one has ever said that
to me, and I just coming and then I said
to him, like, I've learned so much football from you,
just how you appreciate the guys that you played with,
how you talk about the game and the players, and
(05:13):
how he has carried himself as a thirteen year NFL VET.
And so I look back at that day starting in
on July twenty fifth of last year together, and then
the way Kyle and Peter have just welcomed us in
and allowed us to really kind of become our own
forms on Good Morning Football, and it's such a fun show.
But I will say that the breaks, the that the
(05:35):
off season brings are a welcomed kind of pause. Definitely. Yeah.
I mean, you guys kill it every single morning. We
have it on the office every single morning, and it's
always fun to hear you guys. Jimmy, what was kind
of I guess the biggest challenge moving from Sideline to hosting,
you know, a daily show, especially when you know on
Sideline you're assigned one game every single week that you
(05:57):
have to you know, know the nitty and gritty about,
and on the show you have to know about every
single game that happened. On Sundays, you have to nail
on the head. It's it's I have an understanding of
what you know. It's the standard of the knowledge that
I want to have for a single game or my
preparedness for a single broadcast. And I knew what I
(06:17):
wanted to know and how I wanted me to go
about that. There was no way I was going to
be able to recreate that for this show because there's
just not enough sheer time because of all the football
that we had to know about, kind of like the
avalanche effect that I just talked about for the whole season,
you know, the week the regular season, week to week,
it has a snowball effect too, So you know, on Sundays,
(06:38):
we do our best to watch Red Zone to watch
as many games as we possibly can, but you're also
not going to be able to see every snap of
every game. So you show up on Monday, you do
the highlights, and we've all hopefully kind of watched different
games for different reasons. All of a sudden, das before
he's talking about something that's he saw from the Browns games,
Schreeger's saying something about the Ravens, and then that thing
(06:58):
that Schreeger said on Monday Day, it stays in your brain,
and all of a sudden, you're like, you know, I
don't want to talk about that on Wednesday, And then
you start digging into it and you do your own stuff.
And that's how the show develops, is the weeks go on,
it's like you hear things. And that's why bringing your
own thoughts and observations and questions about games and teams
and players is a really cool creative process on this show.
(07:20):
Because something that you say or you heard on Monday,
we bring it up again on Wednesday. There's room for
it on Thursday. And three hours in a day to
day basis gives you a lot of wiggle room to
just unpack stuff. But then all of a sudden, Thursday
comes in your look into the next week, and so
when you break the week up like that, you realize
it's like, man, there's not that much time to get
into all the stuff that you really want to get into.
(07:40):
So at first it was a challenge, but I also
just had to shift my mindset of like, what does
true preparation look like, because it's not going to be
the same as it was when I only had one
game a week. Definitely, Yeah, we're kind of Staying on
the topic of some news this week. I know you've
been on the March Madness assignment, but you know, the
first wave of free agency has been a little crazy.
So what have you thought just about the Broncos moves there? Well,
(08:04):
first and foremost, you know, I thought it was going
to be interesting what the Broncos were going to do
knowing that they didn't have a first round of pick.
So I think that in the off season changes the
nature of any team's approach. You know, get getting Sean Payton,
it was an unbelievable accomplishment and one that was needed
for the Broncos. But what they had to give up
(08:24):
and what they knew they also needed, not at the
quarterback position, I think has been very curious. You know,
when you look at the Broncos, I've read that they're
looking at wide receivers, yet they're shopping Jerry Judy. That
to me tells me that Sean Payton has arrived and said,
I know what I need and I might appreciate this player,
but he's just not it. And what you might be
able to get back from a former first round pick,
and Jerry Judy, you know, I think signing a backup
(08:48):
quarterback that has experience and that you know is going
to pace Russell Wilson in a way that I just
I really respect. And what everyone knows about Sean Payton
is that he knows what he wants and what he's
going to need to run a sccessful team. So at
this point, anything that the Broncos are doing, whether it
be signing some GP Ryan or bringing back Zach at Allen, like,
it's just he. It's essentially like in Sean Payton, I
(09:10):
trust because I'm like, until he shows that he can't
do it, like the man can do no wrong. I agree.
I love it in Sean Payne. We trust. I'm a
start saying that, Yeah, exactly, he'll I'm sure he'll love it.
We'll get in here. Let's talk about football, yeah, I mean,
Jamie Usada, you know, we kind of addressed a lot
of needs here, you know, with offensive line, with the
defensive line. You mentioned we brought a running back, a
(09:31):
tight end. Since we don't have a first round or
our second round pick in the draft, what do you
expect this team to kind of target? What needs do
you think they still need to look at as we
head into you know, the draft, which is only a
month away. Well, the tricky thing about last year's team
was you you looked at it and you're like, well,
your defense was solid. You veteran guys in the secondary
(09:52):
that we're supposed to be good and gosh, I can't quit.
We were making this parallel on the show the other
day that you know, Russell Wilson for as good as
he is, like he didn't have to arrive in Denver
and below it out of the water last year because
your defense was as good as they were. But then
the offense, like they didn't have to be great, but
they had to do more than they did. And there
(10:14):
was like a happy medium in there that just did
not exist. And so you know, I think working together
the Seampagne Russell Wilson marriage, like it has to work
like there. I don't think there is another option for
your new ownership group to take on what they have
done and to say we have found the guys that
are supposed to be working together and it is supposed
(10:35):
to click. Now what do you need? So what like
whether that be a different wide receiver than a Jerry Judy,
whether that be a certain pass catching running back, or
changing the way your offense looks Obviously the investment has
been placed on the offensive side of the ball to
figure out some things that just did not work in
the first year for Russell Wilson. But that's it. I mean,
it's like it was not the question mark we thought
(10:57):
because the AFC West was supposed to be like this
shiny penny last year and I was just it was
amazing in September watching Denver in like not a good way.
It was like it like fascinating and puzzling and no
one could figure it out. And so I think figuring
out the offensive identity and how it clicks and sparks
because it just felt like an engine that wasn't turning
(11:19):
over last year, right, Yeah, I know a lot of
us are really excited to see what Sean Payton's offensive
scheme will look like here and you know what he
can do with this team. So yeah, we appreciate your
thoughts on the team. I want to circle back to
Women's History Month to end the episode here. You know,
looking back to when you first got into the industry, Now,
how would you, I guess, describe the progress that you've
(11:39):
seen in regard to women representation in this industry. Well,
I always think that not only is it important to
see women, especially specifically in television on camera. I think
for me working, I am one person who works on
a production of for if there's one of me, there's
twenty people behind the camera who run the shows too,
(12:01):
And representation is important to see on camera for women
also in production, in the rooms where they're making the
talent hires, where they're making the editorial decisions, having awareness
for what women want to say. As female fans and
football are growing by the masses every year, it's important,
you know it used for a long time it was
(12:22):
great to have women on television. Now I think the
next goal should be to have women in television so
it's not just a woman sitting at a desk with
men being asked to say things from an editorial perspective
on decisions that are made by men. I think having
a room that has a representation is vital, just to
(12:43):
make the conversations more well rounded and to understand that
like this isn't just I'm not just a parrot sitting here,
I beaning like we're asked to talk about this, Like
you know that the direction you're going in is also
being made by group of people where women are included.
I absolutely love that. Gonna be more right, Yeah, Jamie,
you know you have there been any challenges that you
(13:04):
faced kind of in that regard throughout your journey in
this industry, you know, when I was I'm thirty four,
when I was younger, when I first started my first
TV job, for my first few years I worked in Boston.
You know, I think it's hard for young women in
a space where validation is in sports television oftentimes looks
(13:27):
like coaches or athletes, yeah look liking you like they
need to like you as a human being to share
information with you to come across on television or on
the radio or in print. You know, you're You're not
going to get anywhere in life by being not a
nice person. Therefore the subjects aren't going to want to
talk to you whatever. So I think it is particularly
(13:50):
hard as a woman in sports to a mass relationships
in a way that you feel no matter what your
way that you go about it is that you feel
comfortable with in a professional way in making sure that
you are okay with how you are connecting with the
athletes and also how they are connecting back with you.
(14:11):
And I just remember realizing that everyone, every woman in
this industry is going to go about that a different way.
There is no cookie cutter way to say, like, this
is how you make a friend, this is how you
get a coach to like you. You have to do
it your own way. You have to feel good about
it every day. And I just remember struggling with that
because and every job in sports media is different too.
(14:34):
What writers need is very different than what a sideliner
from needs. So I realized that once I kind of
got over the fact that my friendships or relationships with
athletes is going to look very different compared to other
women in the industry, I kind of it gave me
more freedom, Like I'm just gonna act like myself and
I am going to whether it's slower than somebody else
or faster than somebody else, as long as I feel
(14:56):
good about it in the end from a professional standpoint,
and I know that I'm staying true to myself, then
it's then it's everything will work out fine. I'll feel
good about it at the end. Yeah, just do you
I love that? Yeah? Yeah. Something that really stuck out
what you said, Jamie, is just be a good person.
I feel like a lot of the times when people
ask about advice in this industry, that's one that you
(15:17):
know sounds so simple but really matters for sure. Yeah,
I've said it. I've said it a lot when I
speak to college classes. When I was working on the SEC,
I would pop into journalism classes and yeah, I know,
it's I know, it's a strange percentage that I'm sure
maybe some of my TV bosses are like, please don't
say that, but it has, like in the number changes.
But I like to say, sixty five percent of this
(15:37):
job really has very little to do with what you're
doing on camera on television, Like you have you have
to be able to be somebody who when Nick Saban
is walking the field in Tuscaloosa, I understand that from
a media contractual obligation, he has to come and talk
to me, But you know, is he gonna shake my hand,
Is he gonna make small talk about whatever, the weather,
(15:58):
the fact that I just said a babe, anything like that,
or is he just going to have this air about
him that's like, let's get this over with because you're
gonna do the interview. But like you know, you're either
going to talk to somebody one time or one hundred times,
and I think regardless, because that's that person that you
think that you might be talking to one time, it
could turn into one hundred times, and you kind of
ever think of like, oh my gosh, I really should
(16:20):
have done that differently, I shouldn't have said that, or
you know, you want to be proud about how you're
carrying yourself and interactions like that, no matter how high
the person is the ladder or low. Yeah. Absolutely, Well
that kind of leads me into my last question here,
just wanting to inspire, you know, the younger generation to
end this episode. So you know, Jamie threw out all
of your experiences in the industry. What is you know,
(16:42):
the biggest, biggest piece of advice that you would give
someone looking to get into it. I think it's important
no matter what role you have in sports media. You
know you and I know there are television jobs out
there that is called the one man band. I get that,
and I know that you're going to go out and
some people are all going to run their own camera
or whatever. Yeah, I matter what right, no matter what
(17:06):
right exactly, and there to an extent it is a
one man advance. But there are other people that will
eventually put that stuff that you just produce and edited
on television Like there. You have to appreciate and know
what the whole team is doing because there is nothing
in this There is nothing in this world, but specifically
(17:26):
in sports media that you will be doing that you
just get to go off and do it on your own.
Somebody is helping you along the way. And having a
better understanding of how your your small universe looks in
this industry, I think will make you a more well
rounded individual. You will appreciate what the opportunities that you
are being given, but also it will open your eyes
(17:48):
as to how the execution gets done you all. One
of the things I love about Good Morning Football is
the creative side of it. UM In January we were
doing segments. I saw Pete Carroll's on a scooter and
I was like, I'm going to be on a scooter.
And because I knew that our cameras could work a
certain way, I'm like, if I run the scooter a
hole in this circle in the hallway over and over again,
(18:09):
you guys can be able to follow me. They're like, yeah,
we got you. But I knew that was the answer
because I talk with these guys, I visit with them
after the show. I understand how the show works from
I like to think I understand how works from a
top to bottom standpoint, And so just knowing those people
and not just taking them for granted, like because they're
all here for a reason. Just because you're the one
that's on the show doesn't mean that you don't have
(18:29):
the responsibility to know how you got on the show. Yeah, absolutely,
I love that. Well, that's a perfect way to end
the episode. Jamie. It's really been such a pleasure getting
to talk to you and getting to know you more.
I trually just can't thank you enough for joining me today.
Thanks Sydney, I appreciate it. Happy Women's the stream up
that well that I'll do it for this episode of
the Snap Broncos Country, Thanks so much for tuning in,
and thank you again to Jamie Erdolph for joining me.
(18:51):
You can find her every single day on Good Morning
Football Monday through Friday starting at five am. I'm the
one time on NFL Network, So make sure to check
out the show and I will see you guys right
back here on the Broncos podcast network and YouTube next
time for another episode of this new
Hey to succorting a sudden Hey listen, Tim Pastor. Are
(00:02):
you listening it to the SNAT with Sidney Jones on
Broncos Podcast Network year Listen, Francis Country. Welcome back to
the Broncos Podcast Network in YouTube for the latest episode
of The Snap. I'm your host Sidney Jones, and joining
me on today's episode is NFL Networks Jamie Hurdle. Jamie
is a host of NFL Networks Emmy Award winning show
(00:22):
Good Morning Football. Jamie. Such a pleasure to have you
on the podcast today. Thank you so much for taking
the time to join me. Thank you, Sidney. It's awesome
to meet you and talk a little football in the offseason. Yeah,
you too, and appreciate you taking the time in the
middle of March madness, Jamie. I know I said this
to you before we started recording, but you've been crushing
it on CBS the past week. Thank you. I appreciate it,
(00:43):
you know, all for the love of football, you know,
for a three hundred and sixty five plus. But there
is a special place in my heart for March in
basketball and I had I was so lucky I was
in Columbus for the first round. I saw Fairlie Dickinson
beat Perdue and Michigan State push their way all the
way to Madison Square Garden. So I was really lucky
just to be on site too. I think being in
(01:04):
a live sporting event environment is always really fun and
it's refreshing to get there. So it was really great.
Thank you for sure. It's been a crazy tournament so
far the matter. Yeah, yes, exactly. Yeah, I think this
will be the first year I don't quite know the cutoff,
but potentially the first year that the national champion would
be outside like the top four seeds or something like that.
(01:24):
So I think the good is growing for sure. Well, Jamie,
as many of my listeners know here on this snap,
you know, one of the main goals is to highlight
woman's impact in and around the NFL. So for this
week's episode, really want to dive in and celebrate women's
history months. So appreciate you joining me for this week
to be the guest to celebrate that. So to start, Jamie,
I mean, can you just tell me a little bit
(01:44):
about your roles both with NFL Network and CBS Sports
and kind of with those entail Sure. Yeah, Well, I'm
a sports broadcaster by trade, I was at CBS for
eight football seasons. That's my calendar clock, if you will,
before I came to NFL Network. My first at CBS
were spent on the NFL sidelines. I worked with Craig
Gumbel and Trank Green. And then my last four at CBS,
(02:07):
I was on the SEC on CBS, so covering the
best game in college football arguably every Saturday afternoon on CBS.
And those are my eight years and I learned so
much football in those times, in those games and the
players and the coaches and just the xs and o's
of the game and working with some of the best
play by playing analysts on a great network. But I
(02:28):
thought there was more to be had. You know. Sideline
reporting is a really special and specific skill that promotes
and helps every broadcast and shares information about teams that
sometimes I know, we are blessed with a lot of cameras,
but sometimes you just can't see it all. So I
really really love being able to do that. But Good
Morning Football had so quickly become a show that's known
(02:49):
for fun and creative ways to look at the NFL
year round, and hosting as a woman in sports, I
think is a vital skill and I looked at it
as you know, once I know that I could have
the skill of working fifteen hours of live television every
week talking about the NFL, if I can hang in
(03:10):
that environment, in that arena, no one can take that
skill for me once I'm able to, you know, get
that under my belt. So it was a it was
hard to leave CBS and all of the wonderful positions
that they put me in within the game of football.
But I also don't think I ever would have been
qualified enough to have this job at Good Morning Football
now had CBS not been so good to me. So
(03:30):
it feels like a really nice, like kind of connective
tissue moment between the two networks. I know, they still
work together on some stuff, which is great, and it's
allowed me the opportunity, you know, nap Elison to go
from Good Morning Football to CBS, So there is a
pathway there and so but specifically as what I as
it pertains to what I do every day now, Like
(03:51):
it just felt like the right moment at after ten
years in television just to say, like I really want
to host and I want to make sure that I
know that I can do this, you know, for myself, absolutely, Yeah,
I know you joined Good Morning Football back in July
last year twenty twenty two, was you know, your first
NFL season on the show. It was amazing. It was
(04:12):
an absolute like Roland and had like this avalanche effect
to it that like it just kept growing and it
wasn't stopping and there was no stopping it, and it
was like you better ride with it or you're gonna
get totally taken down by it. It was a couple
really interesting aspects to it that, as I look back
on it, is just to be able to start on
(04:32):
the same day with Jason mccordy, someone who had done
very little to no television, and then as a crew,
you know, we traveled to London and we traveled to Munich,
and we were in both of those places for really
historic weeks of football for the league and for the network.
And it was the Munich trip that Jason and I
really kind of got to sit down because this was
(04:52):
mid November by then, and he looked at me and said,
I've learned so much television from you and I've ever
heard It was such a compliment to me to hear
that I had never no one has ever said that
to me, and I just coming and then I said
to him, like, I've learned so much football from you,
just how you appreciate the guys that you played with,
how you talk about the game and the players, and
(05:13):
how he has carried himself as a thirteen year NFL VET.
And so I look back at that day starting in
on July twenty fifth of last year together, and then
the way Kyle and Peter have just welcomed us in
and allowed us to really kind of become our own
forms on Good Morning Football, and it's such a fun show.
But I will say that the breaks, the that the
(05:35):
off season brings are a welcomed kind of pause. Definitely. Yeah.
I mean, you guys kill it every single morning. We
have it on the office every single morning, and it's
always fun to hear you guys. Jimmy, what was kind
of I guess the biggest challenge moving from Sideline to hosting,
you know, a daily show, especially when you know on
Sideline you're assigned one game every single week that you
(05:57):
have to you know, know the nitty and gritty about,
and on the show you have to know about every
single game that happened. On Sundays, you have to nail
on the head. It's it's I have an understanding of
what you know. It's the standard of the knowledge that
I want to have for a single game or my
preparedness for a single broadcast. And I knew what I
(06:17):
wanted to know and how I wanted me to go
about that. There was no way I was going to
be able to recreate that for this show because there's
just not enough sheer time because of all the football
that we had to know about, kind of like the
avalanche effect that I just talked about for the whole season,
you know, the week the regular season, week to week,
it has a snowball effect too, So you know, on Sundays,
(06:38):
we do our best to watch Red Zone to watch
as many games as we possibly can, but you're also
not going to be able to see every snap of
every game. So you show up on Monday, you do
the highlights, and we've all hopefully kind of watched different
games for different reasons. All of a sudden, das before
he's talking about something that's he saw from the Browns games,
Schreeger's saying something about the Ravens, and then that thing
(06:58):
that Schreeger said on Monday Day, it stays in your brain,
and all of a sudden, you're like, you know, I
don't want to talk about that on Wednesday, And then
you start digging into it and you do your own stuff.
And that's how the show develops, is the weeks go on,
it's like you hear things. And that's why bringing your
own thoughts and observations and questions about games and teams
and players is a really cool creative process on this show.
(07:20):
Because something that you say or you heard on Monday,
we bring it up again on Wednesday. There's room for
it on Thursday. And three hours in a day to
day basis gives you a lot of wiggle room to
just unpack stuff. But then all of a sudden, Thursday
comes in your look into the next week, and so
when you break the week up like that, you realize
it's like, man, there's not that much time to get
into all the stuff that you really want to get into.
(07:40):
So at first it was a challenge, but I also
just had to shift my mindset of like, what does
true preparation look like, because it's not going to be
the same as it was when I only had one
game a week. Definitely, Yeah, we're kind of Staying on
the topic of some news this week. I know you've
been on the March Madness assignment, but you know, the
first wave of free agency has been a little crazy.
So what have you thought just about the Broncos moves there? Well,
(08:04):
first and foremost, you know, I thought it was going
to be interesting what the Broncos were going to do
knowing that they didn't have a first round of pick.
So I think that in the off season changes the
nature of any team's approach. You know, get getting Sean Payton,
it was an unbelievable accomplishment and one that was needed
for the Broncos. But what they had to give up
(08:24):
and what they knew they also needed, not at the
quarterback position, I think has been very curious. You know,
when you look at the Broncos, I've read that they're
looking at wide receivers, yet they're shopping Jerry Judy. That
to me tells me that Sean Payton has arrived and said,
I know what I need and I might appreciate this player,
but he's just not it. And what you might be
able to get back from a former first round pick,
and Jerry Judy, you know, I think signing a backup
(08:48):
quarterback that has experience and that you know is going
to pace Russell Wilson in a way that I just
I really respect. And what everyone knows about Sean Payton
is that he knows what he wants and what he's
going to need to run a sccessful team. So at
this point, anything that the Broncos are doing, whether it
be signing some GP Ryan or bringing back Zach at Allen, like,
it's just he. It's essentially like in Sean Payton, I
(09:10):
trust because I'm like, until he shows that he can't
do it, like the man can do no wrong. I agree.
I love it in Sean Payne. We trust. I'm a
start saying that, Yeah, exactly, he'll I'm sure he'll love it.
We'll get in here. Let's talk about football, yeah, I mean,
Jamie Usada, you know, we kind of addressed a lot
of needs here, you know, with offensive line, with the
defensive line. You mentioned we brought a running back, a
(09:31):
tight end. Since we don't have a first round or
our second round pick in the draft, what do you
expect this team to kind of target? What needs do
you think they still need to look at as we
head into you know, the draft, which is only a
month away. Well, the tricky thing about last year's team
was you you looked at it and you're like, well,
your defense was solid. You veteran guys in the secondary
(09:52):
that we're supposed to be good and gosh, I can't quit.
We were making this parallel on the show the other
day that you know, Russell Wilson for as good as
he is, like he didn't have to arrive in Denver
and below it out of the water last year because
your defense was as good as they were. But then
the offense, like they didn't have to be great, but
they had to do more than they did. And there
(10:14):
was like a happy medium in there that just did
not exist. And so you know, I think working together
the Seampagne Russell Wilson marriage, like it has to work
like there. I don't think there is another option for
your new ownership group to take on what they have
done and to say we have found the guys that
are supposed to be working together and it is supposed
(10:35):
to click. Now what do you need? So what like
whether that be a different wide receiver than a Jerry Judy,
whether that be a certain pass catching running back, or
changing the way your offense looks Obviously the investment has
been placed on the offensive side of the ball to
figure out some things that just did not work in
the first year for Russell Wilson. But that's it. I mean,
it's like it was not the question mark we thought
(10:57):
because the AFC West was supposed to be like this
shiny penny last year and I was just it was
amazing in September watching Denver in like not a good way.
It was like it like fascinating and puzzling and no
one could figure it out. And so I think figuring
out the offensive identity and how it clicks and sparks
because it just felt like an engine that wasn't turning
(11:19):
over last year, right, Yeah, I know a lot of
us are really excited to see what Sean Payton's offensive
scheme will look like here and you know what he
can do with this team. So yeah, we appreciate your
thoughts on the team. I want to circle back to
Women's History Month to end the episode here. You know,
looking back to when you first got into the industry, Now,
how would you, I guess, describe the progress that you've
(11:39):
seen in regard to women representation in this industry. Well,
I always think that not only is it important to
see women, especially specifically in television on camera. I think
for me working, I am one person who works on
a production of for if there's one of me, there's
twenty people behind the camera who run the shows too,
(12:01):
And representation is important to see on camera for women
also in production, in the rooms where they're making the
talent hires, where they're making the editorial decisions, having awareness
for what women want to say. As female fans and
football are growing by the masses every year, it's important,
you know it used for a long time it was
(12:22):
great to have women on television. Now I think the
next goal should be to have women in television so
it's not just a woman sitting at a desk with
men being asked to say things from an editorial perspective
on decisions that are made by men. I think having
a room that has a representation is vital, just to
(12:43):
make the conversations more well rounded and to understand that
like this isn't just I'm not just a parrot sitting here,
I beaning like we're asked to talk about this, Like
you know that the direction you're going in is also
being made by group of people where women are included.
I absolutely love that. Gonna be more right, Yeah, Jamie,
you know you have there been any challenges that you
(13:04):
faced kind of in that regard throughout your journey in
this industry, you know, when I was I'm thirty four,
when I was younger, when I first started my first
TV job, for my first few years I worked in Boston.
You know, I think it's hard for young women in
a space where validation is in sports television oftentimes looks
(13:27):
like coaches or athletes, yeah look liking you like they
need to like you as a human being to share
information with you to come across on television or on
the radio or in print. You know, you're You're not
going to get anywhere in life by being not a
nice person. Therefore the subjects aren't going to want to
talk to you whatever. So I think it is particularly
(13:50):
hard as a woman in sports to a mass relationships
in a way that you feel no matter what your
way that you go about it is that you feel
comfortable with in a professional way in making sure that
you are okay with how you are connecting with the
athletes and also how they are connecting back with you.
(14:11):
And I just remember realizing that everyone, every woman in
this industry is going to go about that a different way.
There is no cookie cutter way to say, like, this
is how you make a friend, this is how you
get a coach to like you. You have to do
it your own way. You have to feel good about
it every day. And I just remember struggling with that
because and every job in sports media is different too.
(14:34):
What writers need is very different than what a sideliner
from needs. So I realized that once I kind of
got over the fact that my friendships or relationships with
athletes is going to look very different compared to other
women in the industry, I kind of it gave me
more freedom, Like I'm just gonna act like myself and
I am going to whether it's slower than somebody else
or faster than somebody else, as long as I feel
(14:56):
good about it in the end from a professional standpoint,
and I know that I'm staying true to myself, then
it's then it's everything will work out fine. I'll feel
good about it at the end. Yeah, just do you
I love that? Yeah? Yeah. Something that really stuck out
what you said, Jamie, is just be a good person.
I feel like a lot of the times when people
ask about advice in this industry, that's one that you
(15:17):
know sounds so simple but really matters for sure. Yeah,
I've said it. I've said it a lot when I
speak to college classes. When I was working on the SEC,
I would pop into journalism classes and yeah, I know,
it's I know, it's a strange percentage that I'm sure
maybe some of my TV bosses are like, please don't
say that, but it has, like in the number changes.
But I like to say, sixty five percent of this
(15:37):
job really has very little to do with what you're
doing on camera on television, Like you have you have
to be able to be somebody who when Nick Saban
is walking the field in Tuscaloosa, I understand that from
a media contractual obligation, he has to come and talk
to me, But you know, is he gonna shake my hand,
Is he gonna make small talk about whatever, the weather,
(15:58):
the fact that I just said a babe, anything like that,
or is he just going to have this air about
him that's like, let's get this over with because you're
gonna do the interview. But like you know, you're either
going to talk to somebody one time or one hundred times,
and I think regardless, because that's that person that you
think that you might be talking to one time, it
could turn into one hundred times, and you kind of
ever think of like, oh my gosh, I really should
(16:20):
have done that differently, I shouldn't have said that, or
you know, you want to be proud about how you're
carrying yourself and interactions like that, no matter how high
the person is the ladder or low. Yeah. Absolutely, Well
that kind of leads me into my last question here,
just wanting to inspire, you know, the younger generation to
end this episode. So you know, Jamie threw out all
of your experiences in the industry. What is you know,
(16:42):
the biggest, biggest piece of advice that you would give
someone looking to get into it. I think it's important
no matter what role you have in sports media. You
know you and I know there are television jobs out
there that is called the one man band. I get that,
and I know that you're going to go out and
some people are all going to run their own camera
or whatever. Yeah, I matter what right, no matter what
(17:06):
right exactly, and there to an extent it is a
one man advance. But there are other people that will
eventually put that stuff that you just produce and edited
on television Like there. You have to appreciate and know
what the whole team is doing because there is nothing
in this There is nothing in this world, but specifically
(17:26):
in sports media that you will be doing that you
just get to go off and do it on your own.
Somebody is helping you along the way. And having a
better understanding of how your your small universe looks in
this industry, I think will make you a more well
rounded individual. You will appreciate what the opportunities that you
are being given, but also it will open your eyes
(17:48):
as to how the execution gets done you all. One
of the things I love about Good Morning Football is
the creative side of it. UM In January we were
doing segments. I saw Pete Carroll's on a scooter and
I was like, I'm going to be on a scooter.
And because I knew that our cameras could work a
certain way, I'm like, if I run the scooter a
hole in this circle in the hallway over and over again,
(18:09):
you guys can be able to follow me. They're like, yeah,
we got you. But I knew that was the answer
because I talk with these guys, I visit with them
after the show. I understand how the show works from
I like to think I understand how works from a
top to bottom standpoint, And so just knowing those people
and not just taking them for granted, like because they're
all here for a reason. Just because you're the one
that's on the show doesn't mean that you don't have
(18:29):
the responsibility to know how you got on the show. Yeah, absolutely,
I love that. Well, that's a perfect way to end
the episode. Jamie. It's really been such a pleasure getting
to talk to you and getting to know you more.
I trually just can't thank you enough for joining me today.
Thanks Sydney, I appreciate it. Happy Women's the stream up
that well that I'll do it for this episode of
the Snap Broncos Country, Thanks so much for tuning in,
and thank you again to Jamie Erdolph for joining me.
(18:51):
You can find her every single day on Good Morning
Football Monday through Friday starting at five am. I'm the
one time on NFL Network, So make sure to check
out the show and I will see you guys right
back here on the Broncos podcast network and YouTube next
time for another episode of this new
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