Over the history of the NFL.

There have.

Been thousands and thousands of games played.

Of course, just one of them in Brazil.

And you were on the call for it.

So I guess overall, what was this experience like for you and how significant was it for you to be the person on the call for, like I said.

The only NFL game in that country?

Yeah.

So honestly, when we were talking to the players and coaches, I felt like they put it best and they said this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

And quite literally it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, to your point, had never been done before.

There had never been a game there.

And so to see the the support that exists already for the NFL in Brazil was pretty remarkable.

You know, the NFL estimates that they've got about 36 million fans in that country alone.

And I think you could feel it.

You know, there were jerseys not necessarily just of the two teams that we saw, but we saw a bunch of Tom Brady jerseys and then Jerry Rice jerseys and you name it.

It was a wide net of fandom.

And everybody showed up.

Everybody showed their support.

And I thought that was really cool.

The fact that this is a game that's becoming more and more global and the addition of flag football and the Olympics in 2028 only adds to that.

But it was cool to see it up close and personal.

And I think it's something that the NFL is certainly going to capitalize on moving forward.

Not that you got over the atmosphere at any time, but you've broadcast NFL games before.

Did you ever settle in.

And just call the game and just feel like, okay, I'm commentating on another NFL game?

Or did it have this interesting flavor to it.

Throughout the entire game?

No, I think that when I do my job, at least, that's always the way that I approach it, is once you actually get into it, it's just the same as every other game because if you start to stray away in any way, shape or form, then it's going to change your call.

And I can't have that happen because the reason I get to do the game is the consistency in which I broadcast with.

So whether it's doing this, whether it was doing the Olympics, like whatever the atmosphere or environment is, you really laser it.

And once the actual game starts, but before and after, when you can appreciate what's in front of you and certainly what's surrounding you.

And I feel like that's what we did well, was we got there we go, Wow, look how awesome this is.

We finished the game.

We said, Wow, how awesome was that?

But once we were in the game, it was, okay, let's focus on what's directly in front of us.

And just specifically on the field.

New York to Brazil is a bit of a schlep.

Was it a business trip?

Was it a business trip for you or were you able to see some cool stuff while you were down there?

That was definitely a business trip, but it was probably a trip that sparked an interest in maybe going back one day on a personal level.

But generally with these trips, you know, I get asked this all the time where I get to go to, you name the place, and they go, What did you get to explore?

Well, no, no, no.

I was I was still working, you know, And even if I'm not at the stadium, I'm getting ready to go to the stadium.

In many ways, whether it's taking notes, whether it's learning about players, whether it's reading articles, watching videos.

And so that's really how my week was spent.

But yeah, it was definitely good for the frequent flier miles.

Those are those are sky high right now.

Were you able to get some good local food out there?

I don't know if you're more of a room service kind of guy.

Yeah, I would say, you know, it was it was mostly that.

But the food was great.

I could tell you that the steak was was off the charts, which is expected when you get to Brazil.

But they do a number of things.

Well, there's the specific Brazil cheese bread that I don't even know how to pronounce or the correct name if we're being honest, but had plenty of that.

And they do all three meals.

Well, you know, I think they take pride in their food.

And it was certainly something that delivered.

I would love, as mentioned, to explore on some of the more well-known restaurants the next time I was there.

But for the first kind of look into it and feel of what Brazil has to offer and definitely was was very impressive.

I know some of the Eagles players, they had some safety concerns.

I know Darius Slay said.

I'm not sure.

I want to go to.

Brazil.

He had to apologize.

Darius Slayton on the Giants had to deal with this where.

People thought he and.

Darius Slay were the same person.

So from your.

Perspective and also from the player's perspective, I mean.

How valid were those concerns or do you feel like, you know, there was there were there were there was safety in place for not just players, but also the, you know, commentating crew and everyone else who was involved?

Yeah, I think that you had to be aware this wasn't a place, that it was just you're going to walk around and it's going to be a no cares in the world.

But I, I feel that way of any major city I go to.

And I think that's really what it was.

The big key in this is it's not just a major city.

It's a heavily populated city.

So it's crowded.

And I think any time you have a place that's crowded, you know, we think of New York as crowded.

This is a city in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that has 23 million people living there, 23 million people.

That's far larger than New York, that's far larger than Paris, that's far larger than London.

Any of Los Angeles even.

And Los Angeles is far larger in terms of the overall space.

So it's a condensed area.

And any time we have a condensed area with a lot of people, naturally there's going to be some level of danger or some level of concern.

But I think that so long as you are aware and that's what we were, and then certainly the players, once they got there, it sounds like they did the same.

You could absolutely function that way.

It was not like it was a non function area.

And so I think that it was probably blown out of proportion a little bit.

It was probably a little bit just of being hyper aware, which isn't the worst thing in the world.

But yeah, it's, it's like any other big city.

And when you go to any of these foreign lands and it's not something you're accustomed to, you know when we got to Paris and I didn't done two trips there this past summer, one for the French Open and one for the Olympics, we were told the same thing.

Don't walk around with your phone out like this.

You're going to showcase you're a tourist.

Don't look lost this way or that way.

You know, just make sure that you're trying to blend in the best you can, because if you do that, the rest takes care of itself.

Since the game ended, have you and your father spoken about?

I don't know how often you guys talk on the phone.

If he gives you critiques or just tells you he's proud of you, anything like that.

But I guess what?

Has he had any messages for you since?

You know.

Since the game wrapped up?

We haven't spoken since 2017, Ted.

It was.

Oh, God, no, no, I'm kidding.

I was about to say I saw a picture with you guys, like, a year ago.

Yeah.

No, he.

Yeah, we spoke and.

Yeah, he was.

He was thrilled.

Obviously always loves to to just talk it through, but more so we just talk about life and how the other side of it was, how the trip was, how much fun we had, what we enjoyed, what we did, all that type of stuff.

So yeah, we talked about the game and he watched from Cincinnati where he was for his one game and I think he enjoyed it.

He enjoyed the fact that it was a fun game and I think that's really what we enjoyed was that it was a back and forth type of matchup and two really good teams to help kick off the NFL season.

So on top of the fact that we were in Brazil, we felt like we really got a great matchup.

All right.

Now, I appreciate your time.

Thanks so much for hopping on with me today.

Absolutely.