Inside the NFL

Inside the NFL is a weekly sports show that focuses on the National Football League and currently airs on the HBO cable network starting the first week of NFL season until the week after the Super Bowl. It is presently hosted by Bob Costas with former players Dan Marino, Chris Collinsworth, and Cris Carter serving has co-hosts.

Format

The show is taped in a New York City studio on Wednesday and aired at various times throughout the week beginning Wednesday nights at 10PM Eastern time. Much like other shows on the HBO network, Inside the NFL has the freedom to stray from the traditional network format for its program. While the basic elements are the same as any other sports recap show by featuring highlights of the weeks games and discussion of events around the league, the fact that there are no commercials allows the panel to discuss subjects at length without the normal network time restrictions.

Related Topics:
New York City - Wednesday - Eastern time

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Highlights

The highlight segments consist of NFL Films footage of the past week's games with narration by Harry Kalas. This has long been considered a major asset of the show as the game higlights usually exceed the typical 15-30 second token package seen on most major networks. This was the case at least until the NFL Network emerged during the 2003 season and aired shows such as the show Point After that showed extended highlight segments.

Related Topics:
NFL Films - Harry Kalas - NFL Network - 2003

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In the last few years of Inside the NFL, the show has decreased its highlight segments, eliminating some games near the bottom of the list as far as high profile games go. This has angered some fans as for years the show was a way for out of town fans to view extended highlights of their favorite teams.

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Interviews

Aside from the highlights, Inside the NFL has always focused on in depth interview segments with various players, coaches and front office personnel. Among the notable segments over the years was Chris Carter interviewing former coach Buddy Ryan. Ryan was Carter's first head coach when both were with the Philadelphia Eagles in the late 80's and early 90's. Ryan released Carter with his explanation being the infamous quote "All he does is catch touchdowns". The interview revealed what some had learned over the years, that Ryan released Carter because of his substance abuse problems that were affecting his performance. Carter admitted that his release was a wake-up call and saved his life as he became a born again Christian soon after, and went onto have a successful NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings in which he became the NFL's second leading receiver of all-time.

Related Topics:
Buddy Ryan - Philadelphia Eagles - Born again Christian - Minnesota Vikings

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