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The answers to "Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner's favorite?" or "What is Rob Gronkowski's favorite number between 1 and 100?" will now play out in prime time on live TV.
The NFL, in its bid to see just how far it can stretch fans' insatiable appetite for all things football, is planning to move its annual circus show—otherwise known as Super Bowl media day—to prime time this season.
Interesting tidbit heard at owners' meeting: NFL is talking about making Super Bowl 50 Media Day a Media Night instead. Prime time TV.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 11, 2015In the past, media-day interviews had been relegated to short clips on the local news or SportsCenter. But the NFL has turned media day into a full-blown spectacle with live coverage across a variety of networks (most notably, the NFL Network). The plan would be for media day, which is typically held on the Tuesday of Super Bowl week, to move to Monday night. (Though, with this year's Super Bowl in San Francisco, it actually will be late afternoon, locally).
For the uninitiated, media day brings together players and coaches from the two Super Bowl contenders, forcing them to spend hours answering questions from a throng of international reporters, as Seahawks star Richard Sherman memorably visualized last year:
Media Day was a blast! pic.twitter.com/5nNwtOQQmv
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) January 28, 2014Lately, however, media day has become less about football and more about the offbeat wackiness that comes from the questions themselves ...
#BillBelichek answer on his fav stuffed animal. #dropthemic#SBMediaDay
— Scott Hanson (@ScottHanson) January 27, 2015
Reporter: "You're Canadian?" Jon Ryan: "Yup." Rep: "Do you like Pontoon." Ryan: "What?" Rep: "Pontoon." Ryan: "Poutine?" Rep: "Yes Poutine."
— James Duthie (@tsnjamesduthie) January 27, 2015... Or, from the media:
Yep, it's #SBMediaDaypic.twitter.com/S8auDMYEvr
— NFL (@NFL) January 27, 2015Earlier this year, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch provided the only highlight-worthy material when he made headlines for giving the same eight-word answer to every question. The whole kerfuffle between the notoriously quiet Lynch and reporters became a week-long story of the media chasing its own tail.
Will viewers tune in to watch players answer questions about their favorite member of The Avengers or whether the Super Bowl is a "must-win" game? The NFL is betting on it. Or, maybe the league realizes it needs a more mature audience if Gronkowski is going to be reading from the sequel to A Gronking to Remember.