NFL Fans Should Expect Many More Early-Morning Games on Sundays

Also in Traina Thoughts: New "SI Media Podcast"; Pat McAfee to call bowl game for ESPN; Kevin Durant backtracks and more.

1. The 9:30 a.m. ET window seems to be one of those things that NFL fans either hate or love.

Some folks think spending 1 p.m. to midnight in front of the TV consuming games is more than enough. Other people want as much time with football on as possible and welcome a stand-alone game early in the morning.

If you’re in that latter group, it sure looks like you are going to get your wish.

This season there were four 9:30 a.m. games staged in various European countries. Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reported earlier this week that the NFL could schedule as many as eight Sunday morning games from Europe next season.

It sure seems like that will happen after hearing what senior broadcast manager Charlotte Carey and VP of NFL broadcast planning Mike North had to say on Wednesday’s Good Morning Football.

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The duo was talking up the success of the four International games this season. When something is successful, companies always like more. So if people from the NFL are going on one of their flagship shows to make sure people know the International games were a hit, you can assume there was a reason.

When GMFB’s Peter Schrager asked North if the league has considered having a 9:30 a.m. game each week using an East Coast team to host, North responded, “Sounds awesome.”

However, North explained that it would be too tough to ask players to play at 9:30 in the morning. “I think it’s the international window for now. But I think that International window continues to expand. We went to Germany this year. We’re talking about going to Germany twice next year. The Jaguars have been going over to London regularly. I think they’re talking about maybe more than one game in London at some point. There could be more European-based games, which will make for more 9:30 windows, which will make for more all-day football.”

https://twitter.com/gmfb/status/1600508326390902784?s=20&t=vvH8Z-XSLzqWWZDEFH8FCA

Adjust your Sunday schedules, people. The 9:30 game is not only here to stay, but it’s going to become way more frequent very soon.

2. A brand new SI Media Podcast dropped this morning and this week’s guest is The Athletic’s sports media reporter, Richard Deitsch. Topics covered include:

• Fox's World Cup coverage 
• Jon Heyman whiffing on Aaron Judge
  
• Adam Schefter doing PR for Deshaun Watson
• Is TNF on Amazon a success?
• Athletes as podcasters 
• Good Morning America scandal
• ManningCast

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

3. I often get football fans telling me they want Pat McAfee in the booth to call games. Those people will get their wish at 2:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 17, when McAfee joins Dave Pasch and Kirk Herbstreit to call the Las Vegas Bowl between Florida and Oregon State.

Herbstreit will call the Georgia–Ohio State playoff semifinal with Chris Fowler at 8 p.m. on New Year's Eve, while Sean McDonough and Todd Blackledge handle the other semifinal game, Michigan-TCU, at 4 p.m.

You can see ESPN’s full list of broadcast teams for all its bowl games here.

4. We always appreciate it when someone is self-aware, so give Kevin Durant credit for realizing he wasn’t nice to Aaron Judge here.

Damn this came out colder than I intended..it’s all jokes..welcome back to the city 99.. https://t.co/4ID6TrkVZ9

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) December 8, 2022

5. When the Bears hosted the Packers on Sunday, Chicago defensive back Jayon Johnson asked Green Bay running back A.J. Dillon how he could get legs like his. The exchange was fantastic.

6. Here's MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds telling an amusing story about how he was recently mistaken for a baseball legend while eating at the Cheesecake Factory.

Quite possibly the funniest story #HaroldReynolds has EVER told… Full Ep including #aaronjudge reax on @TheMayorsOffice right here! https://t.co/jGAxt5FlSa @MLBNetwork @mlb #wintermeetings #mlb #joemorgan @TheBigLead @Deadspin @awfulannouncing @JimmyTraina pic.twitter.com/GdTgx2J6bL

— Chinch4 (@Chinch4) December 7, 2022

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Today is the 20th anniversary of The Sopranos “Whitecaps" episode. There might not have been a more intense scene in the show's history than this one. It's hard to put into words just how good James Gandolfini and Edie Falco were here.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.