I’ve never really been a big fan of the spectacle that is the NFL. I certainly enjoy the sport enough, but all the hoopla involved — halftime shows, fireworks, sponsors — makes me long for a time that I never personally experienced, when football was just about a bunch of guys playing a game.
Which is why I was definitely not going to be interested in NFL Full Contact, a new series that the league is producing with truTV. Not only was there no football, but the show was going to dissect the creation of the hoopla, from Draft Day to the Super Bowl. No sir.
And then I watched the pilot. And I’ll tell you something … if you enjoy the event of watching professional football on TV, you’re going to love this series.
The premiere episode takes us back to the NFL Kickoff game in Pittsburgh, where the 2009 champs enjoyed their “Championship Moment,” the instant the team runs onto the field before the game and the sky fills with fireworks. Sounds cool enough. But would you imagine that it’s actually interesting to see how the pyrotechnics team sets fireworks up all around the stadium that day, dealing with casual onlookers and urinating vagrants?
Or how about preparations for the pre-game concert right across the water, starring Tim McGraw and The Black Eyed Peas? Apparently it’s not easy getting a bucket of footballs together at an NFL event … but a good look-a-like can enjoy the hell out of some free perks.
The series puts us in the driver’s seat with a number of people who are responsible for various parts of a given event. The premiere provides an inside look at putting together the concert, coordinating the television feed from two venues, managing the talent and the stage, getting the perfect shot, and providing security at a hard-to-control venue.
And while that all might sound pretty mundane — or even boring — on paper, watching the production in action actually adds to the experience that an NFL event aims to provide. The truth is that I do wonder how the field magicians are able to throw together a stage centerfield at the Super Bowl, only to return it to playing condition for the second half. Or how the producers of the NFL Draft broadcast manage to give us interesting and comprehensive storylines, even if sometimes we wish we got to see something that we missed.
This is a behind-the-scenes for people who aren’t interested in what happens in the Steelers’ training camp, for example — instead NFL Full Contact feeds your desire to see how the reigning NFL champs were treated to their day. I don’t know if Ben Roethlisberger could tell you the where, when or what, but I for one appreciate the coronation the Steelers received a bit better knowing who took part in making their day happen, and how they did it.
It’s not an easy thing to do, and the show aims to provide a little more transparency to the magic behind the six major events that made up this season: the NFL Kickoff, the opening of the new Cowboys Stadium, the third annual London game, the Pro Bowl, the Super Bowl, and Draft Day.
And if you’re still pissed about not seeing the “Championship Moment” as it unfolded, you can blame cameraman Bob Angelo. He was so distracted by something that he didn’t spin around in time.
Find out by what next Monday, February 8 at 10:00 PM, when NFL Full Contact premieres on truTV … it won’t help make up for it, but at least you’ll know.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 01, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
