Good Sports

The NFL Today Teammates James Brown, Bill Cowher, Boomer Esiason, Nate Burleson, And Phil Simms Are Changing The Game—And Having A Lot Of Fun.

- Fred Schruers

DEEP WITHIN THE MANHATTAN CBS BROADCAST CENTERis a cavernous room from which, as one approaches down a narrow hallway, laughter can be heard echoing off its brick and stone walls. Studio 43 has been home to The NFL Today for 18 seasons now, and for all the visual wonders of a 2015 refurbishment featuring catwalks and a floor-to-ceiling video screen, the emphasis is on the shared desk where a quintet of football’s leading voices dispense game insights.

As veteran host James Brown strides onto the set, team-mates Phil Simms and Bill Cowher (or “Coach,” as he’s known) are chortling about their snappily attired colleague Boomer Esiason, who’s just been heard emerging from his dressing room remarking of himself, “Daddy’s looking good.”

There’s an obvious fondness between the four men, which manifests in their good-natured ribbing. Today, Nate Burleson, the prolific pass catcher who joined the team as a virtual broadcasting rookie in 2017, is in London covering an overseas Chargers-Titans game. Noting his absence, Brown verbally throws to Esiason, who promptly jokes, “I wish we could have sent Phil.”

It’s a camaraderie formed by long hours during the six-plus months of the season, with additional duties on Showtime for Tuesday evening’s hour-long show Inside the NFL. The high point of the season, of course, will be the Super Bowl—the first for this team—and a day they anticipate for the chance to showcase what Brown terms their “substantive banter.” As he says, “We don’t typically have enough time, so you’d be stupid not to set [the team up] so they can deliver. If you listen to these guys debate after a play, you’re in effect picking their brains.” Watch! took the opportunity to do the same, asking them our most burning gridiron questions.