NFL schedule creator spills beans on Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers' influence on 'Historic Opening Weekend'
Tom Brady has been retired from the NFL for over a year now. Aaron Rodgers is still active, but there are several younger and more marketable players in the league. Yet these veterans hold such sway that the NFL schedule for the opening weekend was designed with them in mind.
Mike North is the NFL’s Vice President of Broadcast Planning and one of the six members who decide the final schedule for the season. He expressed his thought process and behind-the-scenes work to come up with the schedule, especially the electrifying opening weekend. North spoke to Jonathan Jones from CBS in an interview.
"It's really kind of bookending a historic NFL opening weekend for us," said North.
However, the VP dove deep into the reasoning for selecting the games that he did and the storylines that would come out of them. With Tom Brady taking a commentator job with Fox, North was mindful of Brady’s debut game in the second chapter of his life:
“We're going to have Dallas-Cleveland as the first Fox doubleheader. Tom Brady calling his first game in the booth for Fox.”
North also talked about other storylines emerging from the upcoming NFL opening weekend:
“Rams-Lions with Matthew Stafford back to Detroit again for Sunday Night Football for NBC.”
However, it is the New York Jets featuring Aaron Rodgers that has him the most excited.
“And then kind of bookend that weekend with Jets-49ers on "Monday Night Football.'' And Aaron Rodgers going back to his Northern California roots just felt like a really fun way to bookend the entire opening weekend,” said North.
The festivities will begin on Thursday, Sept. 5, when defending champions the Kansas City Chiefs welcome the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium. After that, a historic NFL opening weekend is lined up for the fans.
All eyes on Tom Brady
In March, Tom Brady signed a massive $375 million contract for 10 years with Fox Sports. He will be seated in the commentary booth, and just like NFL VP Mike North, his former coach is excited about the new role for Brady. Former Patriots coach Michael Lombardi said:
“This is where you're going to see the brilliance of Tom Brady, is because Brady is going to be able to tell you things about Mike Zimmer's defense on the Dallas Cowboys.”
The Chicago Bears and the Cowboys will face off on Sept. 8, and Tom Brady will be there to entertain and inform the fans with his 22-plus years of pro football experience.