Rich Eisen has accomplished a lot of firsts and taken a lot of roles since starting with the NFL Network. The very first on-air talent added to the NFL Network was also the first host of NFL Total Access and started NFL.com’s first podcast (not to mention everything he’s doing with his show on the Roku Channel). Now he’s adding another aspect to his role with the company as he’ll apparently be calling multiple NFL games for the network this season.
Eisen was a guest on Jimmy Traina’s Sports Illustrated Media Podcast this week and the two discussed his recent contract extension with NFL Network and what that might entail.
“I signed for four more years, Jimmy,” Eisen said. “My contract now takes me through year 23 there.”
The 53-year-old TV, radio, and podcast host then added some details about the negotiation and what came of it, including an opportunity to call NFL games.
“Negotiating with the NFL — this right in — is not a lot of fun,” Eisen said. “But the commissioner himself has been terrific. He’s always been a man of his word, ever since I started saying ‘if you need me, give me a call’ when he was the COO of the NFL, now he’s the top guy in the NFL and has been for quite some time. This is season 20, year 19, for me so I’ve re-signed there, and I just love being with the same people that I’ve been with for so long. There’s still some originals with me. And I just love being the tip of that spear. GameDay Morning, love doing that. Love doing the draft, love doing the combine, so my schedule is the same. Very excited about that. Looks like I’ll be calling some games this fall on NFL Network as well, excited about that.”
When asked for any specifics on which games he might be calling, Eisen deferred.
“I don’t know if I’m at liberty to say which games I’m doing, but I love calling games. There’s nothing like being at the stadium, nothing like being involved with a broadcast. I just dig it. I loved calling baseball games at ESPN and love calling games whenever I’m in the booth for the NFL.”
He added that “announcements should be coming soon.”
NFL Network’s next NFL game is the London matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints on October 2. After that, there’s a Week 5 London game between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers, Week 10 Munich game between the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a Christmas Eve game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers, and some yet-to-be-announced Saturday games. So there are certainly quite a few options for Eisen in play.
[Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, via Barrett Sports Media]