- 1 minute ago
NFL International Play-By-Play commentator Will Gavin joins JP and BMitch to discuss the hype around the UK for the first international game of the season.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00And I'm excited, man. Will Gavin is sitting in with us. Will is an anchor here at TalkSport, does play
00:06-by-play for a ton of NFL content.
00:08Will, what's up, man?
00:09Doesn't get a lot of sleep.
00:09Boys, how we doing? Yeah, no sleep. I mean, twin-year-old, two-year-olds. Twin two-year-olds. That's
00:16a busy house, bro.
00:18Twin two-year-olds and covering the NFL in a country where the primetime games start at 1.15 in
00:22the morning.
00:23That's crazy.
00:25Yeah, two, three hours sleep and it's going to have to be enough for me most nights.
00:28So, are you a native Londoner, like, more or less?
00:31Yeah, yeah, from just outside of London. So, like, maybe, like, 50 miles away. Not far at all. But lived
00:35here for 20-plus years now.
00:36Sure. So, how did you get into the NFL?
00:39So, my old man used to work for Oracle, a company that, you know, sponsored the arena in downtown San
00:46Francisco and stuff.
00:47So, he'd work out there, like, a few months a year. I'd go out and visit him when he was
00:50out there.
00:51Started to watch games on TV. First game I ever watched was Sunday Night Football, Niners-Giants.
00:56And fell in love with it.
00:57So, are you a Niners guy?
00:58I am a Niners guy.
00:59Okay. Niners look pretty good. Purdy looks locked.
01:02I always say if I flew in three or four hours earlier, I'd be a Raiders fan.
01:05So, you did better. You did much better.
01:10I'm delighted with my choice. Purdy doesn't look locked. Purdy looks elite. Purdy looks, what, top two in the NFL
01:16so far this season?
01:17Yeah, he's been great.
01:17Maybe top one after Josh Allen gave the ball away five times this past weekend.
01:21True.
01:21Like, he's been sensational.
01:22So, yeah.
01:23Josh Allen had one of those games, huh?
01:25I've been spending the last three or four years telling everyone Brock Purdy's this guy.
01:28And it feels nice now that, you know, the Colin Cowards and the Nick Wrights of this world finally get
01:33on board, get on the train.
01:34Because he is good enough to go and take this team to the playoffs and beyond.
01:37Don't you think in the NFL where they, if you're not a first round pick, they give you no love
01:43if you're a quarterback.
01:44But there are a lot of guys who've come and wasn't in the first round who've been outstanding.
01:49Not to be kind about a division rival while I'm on a Washington radio station, but I think Dak had
01:53the same problem for a long time.
01:54Yeah.
01:54Like, never really got the same level of respect until he was a good few years in and people realized
01:58what a good processor he was.
02:00And a bit like Purdy, he's not the sexy, throwing off platform, doing all this mad back foot stuff.
02:06And just like, he's, he got playwrights in the pocket.
02:08He reads the defense.
02:09He progresses.
02:10Like, he plays quarterback in the kind of traditional way.
02:12Totally.
02:13Like, it's meant to be played.
02:14Yeah, yeah.
02:14And that's not going to grab you the headlines.
02:16That's not going to get you the social clips that are going to go wild.
02:18Right.
02:18So, I get why people haven't bought into it, but if you watch the Niners week in, week out, he
02:23is sensational.
02:23He's good.
02:24Well, and Kyle runs a hell of a program.
02:26I mean, they're well coached.
02:27They're tough.
02:28They're super physical.
02:30You know, it's hard not to be impressed by Kyle Shanahan and what that Niners team has done.
02:36So, I'm curious, what do you make of Jaden in this weekend's matchup, Commanders-Colts?
02:42Now, will you be calling that play-by-play here in the UK?
02:45I'll be calling the game for UK Radio here, as well as any fans that are coming out to the
02:48game.
02:48They're going to be handing out radios this year, like a little over-the-ear pieces.
02:52So, you're actually going to be able to listen to our commentary in the stadium, as well, while it's going
02:55on.
02:56Yeah, first time we've ever done it.
02:57So, I'm almost a little nervous about it, because it's like, I do it on radio, and however many tens
03:01of thousands of whatever people are listening.
03:04But when the people that are listening to you can see you while you're doing it, if the people over
03:08my shoulder have got a radio on their ear, that kind of freaks me out.
03:12It's always kind of easier when you're broadcasting into the void, and not necessarily, like, identifying with people that are
03:18definitively listening.
03:19But you're still on radio, so they don't think they see you, so you're okay.
03:22It's a different dynamic.
03:24Yeah, yeah.
03:24Don't face for radio very much over this time of time.
03:27Will you broadcast from the game, from Tottenham?
03:30Yeah, so I'll be in the gantry at the game.
03:31I did Madrid last year, as well, for the Commanders, for that game with the Dolphins.
03:35That was a terrible game.
03:36We got into, see, I don't know, right?
03:38There were four goal-line stands in that game, right?
03:41The ball got turned over on fourth down four separate times.
03:43That's good defense.
03:44That's fun football.
03:46Why can't I enjoy that?
03:46See, I think that'd be bad offense.
03:47Why can't I enjoy that?
03:48Could that be bad offense?
03:49I think, like, Will.
03:51He's saying that Marcus Mario...
03:52See, if you don't have offense in the States, they think it's a bad game.
03:57What's wrong with having an exceptional defense?
03:58Don't get me wrong.
03:59You're trying to tell me that Dolphins game last year was a good game.
04:02Defensively, it was!
04:03It wasn't a great game.
04:04It wasn't a great game.
04:04But, I'll tell you what, I have to hold my hands up and make a confession and apologize
04:09to the good people of D.C., of Maryland, and the surrounding areas.
04:13The DMZ.
04:14Yeah.
04:15I came into the season, and we were talking about the International Series games, and I
04:19proclaimed very loudly on national radio, and then again on national TV, whilst this
04:23looked like the worst matchup on paper this year, at least we'd get Jaden Daniels after
04:27we didn't get him in Madrid last year.
04:29I think I might have put a hex on him.
04:31You're the guy.
04:32Oh, man.
04:32It's on you.
04:33At least he's here.
04:33He didn't even travel to Madrid.
04:35Yeah, he didn't.
04:36I mean, there's videos of him running around at the practice facility and stuff.
04:40What do you make of, Brian and I both don't think he actually will, but of the possibility
04:45of him playing after seeing that injury?
04:47I think it's completely wild.
04:48We had that game on, so as well as doing the radio here, I do the cable TV coverage
04:53on a Sunday, so we do one of the games in like the four o'clock window I'm on for.
04:56And so we had that Cowboys-Commanderers game a couple of weeks ago.
05:01You know, you should have heard it.
05:03We have a studio audience for our show, and you should have heard the reaction in that
05:06room.
05:06It was gruesome.
05:07The replay where Tom Brady decided to share his feelings with the world on the filter.
05:11That replay.
05:12When that happened in the studio, there was an audible groan, inhale.
05:18Or like...
05:18Yeah.
05:19Dude, I mean, we were...
05:20It's hard looking at stuff like that.
05:21I was there in Dallas, and I don't know if you've been to Jerry World, but it gets loud.
05:25It's very large and very loud.
05:27You got a lot of Texans drinking a lot of beer, right?
05:30And the place went silent, and it was reflective of the player and all the potential Jaden has
05:37shown, and then last year with the injuries, and then just the nature of how gruesome it
05:43looked.
05:43It feels like the bone's going to pop out of his skin when it bends in like that.
05:47Listen, I'm not a doctor in any way, shape, or form.
05:49And in many ways with these things, this is the great dichotomy of the NFL, right?
05:52If you were to really...
05:54If as an organisation, you could sit back and say, are we going to the playoffs this year?
05:58Are we going to win anything this year?
05:59Or are we building for the future?
06:01Then you'd probably get him to have surgery and sit the season.
06:04But Dan Quinn is coaching for his job.
06:07The front office staff are working for their jobs.
06:10And so if Jaden could come back this year, he's a competitor.
06:13He's going to want to come back.
06:14He wants to work.
06:14Of course he's going to want to play.
06:16And so the fact that he came back after three games last year, aggravated it, had to go
06:20off again, that's what concerns me.
06:23I don't know enough about the extent of it.
06:25It sounds like it isn't as severe as it was last year.
06:27Maybe he got lucky with that.
06:28But yeah, it does scare me.
06:31We've had some doctors on there, and basically a lot of them focus on the pain management of
06:35it.
06:35I just feel like they can put a brace, and the brace may not be extended completely.
06:42And you can manipulate that brace to where it puts more protection in certain areas.
06:53And I think he didn't want a brace at first, but a brace is in his future.
06:59Yeah.
06:59I mean, he's going to have to get surgery, right?
07:01I think it's a matter of trying to control the timing.
07:03And if he can come back, I still think it's next week at home against the Giants.
07:07But if he can come back and be the player he is, I think he's very lucky that this persistent
07:12elbow issue is his non-throwing hand.
07:14So it kind of changes the mathematics surrounding it, right?
07:18Like, if this was his right elbow, he'd have to get the surgery now.
07:22100%.
07:22You know?
07:23Oh, yeah.
07:23It's not.
07:24And you had a guy like Kurt Warner come out and say, I played through this.
07:26I know other players, quarterbacks obviously get far more scrutiny and eyeballs and credit
07:32and blame and all of that.
07:34But NFL players are playing through dislocated joints all the time.
07:39I mean, shoulders all the time.
07:43So some of it is just like, where are you on the toughness scale?
07:47And Jaden, to his credit, has shown time and time again that he's crazy tough.
07:51I mean, even the rookie season playing with the broken ribs and stuff.
07:55I'm curious for you.
07:58I saw this article.
07:59It was an Associated Press article that they're dropping the prices for this game.
08:04You're trying to get me in trouble.
08:06I see.
08:06I'm not.
08:07I'm not.
08:07That's what we're doing.
08:08That's what we're doing.
08:08Is it?
08:09Now I know what kind of show I'm on.
08:11Is there not as much interest in this game?
08:14Or is it because there's so many games?
08:17Is it the fact that both of the games were 0-2 before last week?
08:18Yeah.
08:19I think it's a huge number of factors, right?
08:20For years, these games sold out the moment that they went on sale.
08:23Right.
08:23Like, honestly, you get those screenshots of people joining the queue on Team Master.
08:27Yeah, it'd be like 100,000 people.
08:28Yeah.
08:29I mean, I can remember it being 600,000, like, years ago.
08:32Like, it's crazy.
08:33And the fact is, is there is a proliferation now, right?
08:36We've got three games here this year.
08:38There are three games in Europe.
08:39If you did want to travel to go to one of your teams playing in Munich or Madrid or Paris.
08:43Right.
08:43Then you're going to travel for that because it's, you know, nowhere near as bad as traveling
08:46for the States in terms of what you've got to do to go to a game.
08:49And actually, like, if you root for an East Coast team, traveling from here, if you book
08:53it far enough in advance, it's not much more expensive than coming down to London for a
08:56weekend.
08:56It seems like a lot of Brits come over at home games.
08:59So, like, I think there's kind of a confluence of factors because of that.
09:03I do think that the ticket prices have got to a point where they're too high.
09:07Yeah.
09:08Um, I think that's just the case across the board.
09:10Like, I remember you used to go to concerts and I don't know about in the States, but here,
09:14like, a good ticket to go see somebody might push towards a hundred quid, right?
09:18Now, I went to see Jay-Z at the same stadium at Tottenham Hotspur a few weeks ago.
09:22And for, like, a cheap seat was, like, £180.
09:25Right.
09:25Like, the, you know, the good seats were £300, £400, £500.
09:28And you're like, that's, we've got to a point where it feels like it's just gone a little
09:33too far.
09:33And I think the NFL might have to reassess that.
09:35The reason they get in trouble is because people bought their tickets at the end of the
09:38these very high prices.
09:39And now they want to sit in and go back.
09:41What they're doing is they're offering those lower prices to people if they bought a ticket
09:44for Eagles Jags, which has sold out.
09:46They're saying, we see you're coming to Eagles Jags.
09:48We're going to offer you a lower price ticket for the game the week before so you can come
09:52to both games.
09:53I kind of get that.
09:54I get the ticket offer thing.
09:55But I also, if I paid...
09:57Yeah, you'd be pissed.
09:58If I paid £200 for a ticket and somebody sitting next to me has paid £80 for it, I'm suddenly
10:01not very happy.
10:02Yeah, but they could drop the price because they know they already made it too high.
10:06Mm-hmm.
10:08It's easier to drop them when you know you're already still going to make.
10:10Yeah, they're still going to be making plenty of money.
10:13I'll tell you, there was a thing a few years ago with the Jags where they put out their
10:16revenues for gates across the previous 10 years.
10:20And in their top 10 were nine games at Wembley and the Packers at home.
10:25Wow.
10:26They make so much money out of these trips.
10:28Dude, the Jags have been playing here twice a year for a decade now?
10:33So it's only been twice a year the last couple of years and it's been home.
10:37This is the first time it's two home games because of them changing the stadium.
10:40But they've been playing a game here every year for, yeah, a decade now.
10:43Do they have any foothold?
10:45Do people root for Jacksonville?
10:46I would say people root for Jacksonville in London more than any place other than Jacksonville.
10:52they still don't crack the top 10, 15 most popular teams.
10:56Really?
10:56I think you'd be surprised how popular they are here.
10:58And you'll see, I assume you guys are at the game on Sunday.
11:00Yeah.
11:00You'll see, this is your first experience of an international game.
11:03One of the things that will really catch your attention is, yeah, there'll be Colts fans,
11:07there'll be Commanders fans there.
11:08But there'll be a lot of fans.
11:10You will see a Tim Couch Browns jersey on Sunday, I almost guarantee.
11:14That's how I was in Madrid last year.
11:15Yeah, I mean, that's one of my favorite parts of working these international games is they almost feel like,
11:20it feels more like a football concert or like a celebration of football, NFL football,
11:27rather than like a specific, we're locked in on Commanders Colts.
11:31Yeah.
11:31And, I mean, I go back, I covered the game when the Skins played here in 2016 at Wembley that
11:36ended in the tie.
11:37And especially then, I'm really curious to see kind of the growth over 10 years.
11:42Are you able to hang with us a little longer?
11:44Yeah, why not?
11:45I'm going anywhere to be.
11:47You're in my yard, after all.
11:48We got Will Gavin sitting with us, play-by-play voice here in the UK.
11:53Give him a follow, at Will Gavin.
11:55Check out all his work for Talk Sport 2 and Talk Sport.
11:58Nobody go anywhere.
11:59It's P. Mr. Finley coming to you from London.