Jamie Erdahl | NFL Network "Good Morning Football" Host

One of the newest members of Good Morning Football, the Emmy award-winning morning show on NFL Network. Jamie, unless you are an incredible faker, it looks like you're having a total blast on your new show. So seriously, how much fun are you having with Good Morning Football? No, I'm good at a lot of things in life.

I'm not good at faking that for three hours a day. It's so much fun. I really cannot believe my luck and the trajectory, my life and career have gone on in this capacity that I have found myself in this chair.

And there's so many reasons why. And whenever I answer this question too, I always want to say like, it's not ever that I didn't like what I was doing with CBS. I think everything I did for eight years at CBS kind of led me to this and being able to do this job. And so it's an incredibly creative, fun, high energy job.

And it's, I use the word easy very lightly because I don't want it to say it's easy to, but it's easy to follow the NFL every day. And it just snowballs. And it's, you know, your ideas, you know, they bounce off each other and it's just conversation with three friends. And then everybody else just happens to be listening.

It's fantastic. You mentioned the NFL and we know the power of the NFL. Were you blown away by the reaction though? Because when the announcement was made, it just seemed like it was the biggest story going that day.

Yeah, it was, I felt really blessed. You know, I honestly understand why I think some people were legitimately like, Oh, Oh, okay. And because it's having been on the SEC most recently for myself, they saw me in a prominent role, just, you know, football viewers. And then it was almost like a reminder that like, yes, I had done the NFL and you know, these SEC guys are just crawling all over the NFL. So there's so much crossover there. But then just the ability to, you know, just branch out, like I said, creatively and you know, personally so much of it had to do with, I get to, you know, stay home.

I have two kids under, I have a three-year-old and a one-year-old and you know, I told my three-year-old who understands this meaning now that I get to put my suitcase away and that's just so, it just feels like a time in life that it was meant for that to happen. And then for Jason, it was incredible that he just had this, the career that he did and for him to retire and slide into this chair a week later. But also what I admire so much about him in the last seven weeks too, is the fact that it must have been really hard for him to like watch training camp unfold, watch the game start. He doesn't look sad. He looks like, I am so happy to not be there doing that. Like he just, I think, you know, he's not that good of a faker either.

I think he's having just as much fun. He had a bit of a hiccup though. He had a burst appendix right at the beginning of the season that he had to miss a couple of days, but he's back in action.

He's just a fantastic teammate. He had a Joe burrow moment before the he did a show as his appendix was like starting to get angry at him. And we're like, dude, you look all right. He's like, yeah, my stomach hurts. And then that night he's like, yeah, my appendix has to come out. And Peter and Kyle and I are like, seriously, like we get that you're tough, but you didn't have to do the show today, man. Wow. Football players are different kind of tough.

That part we know. We're spending a few minutes with Jamie Erdahl, who's the new host of NFL network's Emmy award winning show. Good morning. Football airs Monday through Friday, 7am Eastern time.

It's after hours here on CBS sports radio. I read a quote in which you said, I think five or eight years ago, I would have felt I could do this job, but I bet I wouldn't have been as good at it as I probably will be today. So this is before you started to the athletic. When you think about that, you know, what were you referring to? Why is this the time where you were ready to step into this role? Well, first and foremost, I think when you're a woman in this industry, you, you always have to sell it, you know, like I can do anything. I could do that.

What do you mean you do? I can do it. And so, you know, at any point in my career, I probably could have convinced you it like, Hey, I should be doing March madness.

I should be doing the second weekend of the tournament. But it's only in hindsight that you realize that while it's, you know, how it's a great work ethic to essentially believe that you can do a lot of this stuff. You're not just, you're not always ready for it.

And whether or not you can execute the job is very differently, I think than being able to be good at it. And, you know, five years ago, I had not been around Nick Saban for four football seasons. Five years ago, I had not watched, you know, the essentially up and coming birth of Joe burrow and all he that all that he had become.

Five years ago, I had not worked for more NCAA tournaments. It's, it's just life and work on the job experience that I learned so much football, high level, high quality football being around the SEC, and in particular, Alabama, that I wouldn't, I just wouldn't have had if they had come to me when the show started six years ago and said, Hey, you're the person. And I feel so incredibly grateful for all that experience, because it helps me it helps me today.

When a guy pops up, you know, an undrafted guy, but he did play at Ole Miss or Mississippi State, and I just know him and it just, it helps. And all of that, you know, baseline knowledge just helps you be better. And you just can't fake experience. You can't in any job in any sport, being an athlete, nothing, you can't fake it. And so that's what I meant, I guess when I said that was that, you know, I'm sure I could have done it. Sure, I could read a prompter five years ago, I knew some stuff, but I didn't know what I know now.

And I just feel like this was such the right time to be able to do this show. It's funny, because when I talked to Alabama products, so guys who went to Alabama, but are now in the NFL, some of them will tell me very explicitly that the training at Alabama was actually tougher. They felt like the rigors and the pressure at Alabama were actually more than what they feel in the NFL. So you talk about the training, you're kind of right in the middle of that in the SEC, because it is the highest level of college football, and the microscope and the pressure certainly does prepare you in addition to what you see and what you learn.

Yeah, I mean, listen, Nick Saban isn't gonna let you just float through his production meetings, he that guy, his day is scheduled down to the minute. And, you know, he and right, rightfully, so he's earned it, the man demands you to come prepared in any in any situation you're in, whether you run, you're running into him in the hallway, you're in a production meeting, or at halftime, it doesn't matter. And so I just love listening to him talk about football, his X's and O's are great. But what he has built there, and essentially the the methodology that he has crafted to create this program, I find so incredible.

And it's fascinating how he goes about it. And, you know, and I do see that standard translates to guys. I mean, like I said, they're everywhere, they're in every organization. And they're always I think, you know, I'm sure there's one off examples, but they tend to be the professional football players that you really don't hear much about, like, oh, he's not the first guy in the building, or he's not, you know, he needs to stay longer. It's like they were already they've been doing that for three to five for three to five years.

That's not that's not a thing. It's not a hard ask, I guess. Jamie Erdahl is with us from NFL Networks. Good morning, football.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. As you kind of change and take this corner in your career, what's been the biggest challenge for you? Oh, time management, I think is probably it's just it's just different. I really, you know, being a sideline reporter and traveling lends itself to a certain lifestyle of, you know, especially when you got to know the material so well, like after being on the SEC for four years, it's like, I'm not saying I could do the job in my sleep, but I had it down to a science of like, okay, I talked to this guy now when I talked to that guy then and, and I in a set and a lot of my work, a bulk of my work was accomplished on the road. And with two little kids, you know, that really lended itself to being a nice way to go about my life.

But the hard part was that I was on the road. So this job comes along. And, you know, it's our show, essentially, not to get too much in the weeds, but like our show is set up the night before and then we go over in the morning and then we go on the air.

And so I'm trying to answer questions about like, which AFC West team do I think, you know, is going to be a Cinderella story? And it's like bedtime, you know, that's where it's like, oh, man, I gotta, I have to, I have to learn a new habit here. And it's, it's not a bad habit.

It's not a good habit. It's just like this, it's a different lifestyle. And, you know, I'm still getting used to it. But I think first and foremost, I just love the daily, the daily aspect of it, you know, working games.

It's a, it's a, you have a four hour shot on Saturday afternoon to get your stuff on the air. And sometimes the game goes away that it's not lent doesn't lend itself towards all the work you've done towards stories. And that's good, but sometimes it can be frustrating.

But this is 15 hours of football that you have the time to get all your stuff out there. You know, one of the things that I love about having a daily show, yes, there's a lot that goes into it is very intense. But when you have one that you're not particularly proud of, almost like an athlete, you have to flush it, you have to get rid of it, because there's one the next day. But you also know that, okay, I get to go back tomorrow and do it again, and do it better. So I understand what you're talking about with the daily grind, you get to continue to practice what you love.

Yes, absolutely. I said that to Kyle once, going into like a last segment of a show. I just, it was after a couple weeks, I was like, you ever have these days where you just feel so just okay about like everything you put out there? We had actually just had a really great show.

He goes, yeah, what are you talking about? You feel that today? It was a great show.

He's such a pick me up guy. And I was like, no, what I'm saying is I actually will say it was a Wednesday. I was like, what I'm feeling is that I didn't realize I felt that about Monday, Tuesday, because we just had such a good Wednesday. And it's like, again, it's, I'm just retraining my brain, how to, you know, how to give myself feedback, how to, how to gauge like, you know, when it's game, when it's sideline on the games, it's, you're 100 miles an hour when you're on the road. And when you're at home, it's 15, 115, 115.

And here, I'm just cruising at 45 right now. And it's that that is a different challenge in and of itself. Kay Adams turned this role into one that people made appointment television, her personality, her knowledge, what did you hear from her as you kind of took over in this role? Yeah, she was incredibly supportive.

To me personally, and just, you know, answering questions about the people that are on the show, both on, you know, both the guides, but also the people behind the scenes and just how much production support you are given and creative freedom that you're given. And she has been wonderful. And I think it's, I think it's such an honor for, to be in this chair for someone who goes off and gets her own show on a new channel.

I think, like you said, her knowledge and willingness to be herself has opened doors for her that are incredible. And I'm not trying to be her. And I don't think she ever told me like, hey, if you want to be good at this, you should do X, Y, or Z. Never came out of her mouth, never was even, it was just like, she just, I remember her saying to me, you're meant for this job.

This is so what you're supposed to be doing. And I felt, I thought that was so incredibly flattering. It's like, you always have to consider like, people don't have to do things or say things to you. She didn't have to say that.

She didn't have to pick up the phone, but she did. And I say, I just appreciate that so much about her. You know, it's going to take time for people who are used to her style to get used to my style.

And I don't think either one is right or wrong. And, but that's the, that's the thing about this show. It's style, it's flair, it's thinking about football, you know, beyond what you see on the field.

And I think that's what people like about it, but people also like what they like. That show was together, you know, with Nate for five years, with Kay for six. And, you know, it's almost like with Jason, I'm like, dude, you are beloved already.

They had, they were in a rotating chair there for a while. With Kay, it was like a six-week turnaround. I think people were just so jarred, like, oh, you're not Kay, what's happening?

So it's, everyone's going to go through growing pains, both myself and the viewers. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Jamie, a couple moments from the show that I already have to ask you about, they've made me laugh out loud. One of them out on the streets of New York City, a segment that you called Stop the Clock, where there's a football being thrown directly at you, a good pass, mind you, but you turned around and ran from it. Were you never going to catch the ball?

Were you trying to catch the ball? What was going on there? Okay, so, um, I am like a child when I get out there, and Kyle is too.

Peter and Jason are able to kind of keep their maturity in check. Kyle and I just, they said, prompter be damned. Like, we just are like, whatever, what's this segment? We just want to play football. And so I can't not, you know, go and go out for a pass, go catch one. And I will say, like, I love throwing the football around.

I'm pretty good at catching a football. But I looked up and it was as if the sun was, like, beaming straight into my eyeballs. And all I could think, all I could think was like, I'm about to get a black eye on live television. And like, and while that would have been incredible TV for like 15 seconds, it would not have been good for like 15 days. So I just bailed, I bailed out like Top Gun Maverick. I was like, this is not good. And I just tried to get as far away of that situation as I possibly could. And, you know, whatever, I didn't even think about the fact that we were still on television. I was more just like, I want to catch this ball. No, I don't. No, I don't. Jason had the best line.

He's like, people say football is easy. I was like, all right, we get it. Okay.

All right. So then this blew up not just your Twitter, but other Twitter, really super cool that you guys got to be part of a category on Jeopardy. How did that come together? Well, speaking of that brilliant man who handpicked us all, Michael Davies, he was handpicked. You know, Jeopardy has been through a lot over the last couple of years. And he was picked recently to become the executive producer of Jeopardy.

So the connection is there between essentially our godfather of television, Michael Davies. And so they knew they were going to do an NFL kind of segment. And they, they had us read the clues. And what's funny about it in hindsight is that was our first day. Like Jason and I, we get there July 25th. We're like, okay, everybody, nice to meet you.

First show we ever did with Peter and Kyle. And they're like, oh, PS, you have to stay after for 15 minutes to read your Jeopardy clue. It's like, oh my gosh. And so just like seeing us that day, it's like, oh, that's that dress I wore the first time I was ever on Good Morning Football. It's like the growth. It was actually nice to see for a lot of reasons, but one of which was the growth that we, I witnessed of myself just sitting in that chair on that tiny Jeopardy clue was so cool. To me feels like one of those crossover moments that okay, I got to pinch myself.

I made it maybe a step further than where I was before. Exactly. Exactly. Like I texted my husband's like family, oh, I'm gonna be on Jeopardy tonight. And my mother-in-law was like, my mom would have loved that.

You know, it just was like, man, you don't realize how far it reaches until you're doing it. Yes. My grandmother watched it every single night.

So Jeopardy was her jam. Yes. Also, I have to tell you, people ask me all the time, what my favorite friends episode is. And I always respond with Pivot. That is my, that's my absolute favorite. Yes.

I know. God, there's so many good ones. There's so many good ones. I like the, um, the, the poking device one where, um, ugly naked man is across the street. Oh God, there's so many good ones.

The season four I think is my favorite season. I have these answers, these questions. I got to figure these things out.

And I employ like my husband to help me. I'm like, Hey, what's like a food I could win at a food eating contest. He's like, is this on the show tomorrow? I'm like, yeah, don't worry about it.

Just help me answer the question. But that was one of them. I'm like, what Trivial category?

He's like, I mean, I hate to do it to you, but you probably should just say friends. I'm like, yeah, you're right. I should say that. That's what makes it fun is that we're not one dimensional. We don't all, none of us, even if we work in sports, that's not the only thing we do. We don't all focus on football all the time. So that's great.

All right. So, but we'll do a little football just to wrap up. James, what are a couple of things that jump out at you as we actually are now kicking off week two?

Wow. Well, I was really, I thought the Bengal Steelers game was incredibly entertaining, but I was really quite surprised, um, by the Bengals in general. I, you know, I, I would have thought just from like a storyline perspective that, um, they, they would have heard all of that Superbowl slumps kind of, kind of talk and just would have come out a little bit more explosive. They, the offensive line looks very discombobulated. Um, and they still hung, I think for as poorly as they played and Joe burrow was running for his life. Um, they still were in, I mean, they were still down to the wire. And so to me, that implies that they are a good team. It was a really flu key Sunday for them. Um, I expect them to bounce back. Uh, I wasn't surprised at all that the Steelers were the team to do that to them.

I never, I will never doubt Mike Tomlin whatsoever. And yeah. And then I think I'm looking forward to seeing Trey Lance, like not in a monsoon, uh, you know, for as much as we talked about him in the off season. And I'm glad that there hasn't been uproar about this, about the 49ers losing that game in Chicago, because everyone understands that that was a total anomaly of weather and environment and just, you know, just kind of challenging all around good for the bears to come out with a week one win. Let's, let's just make sure we give, you know, Trey, Lance is due. And, um, and then finally just the bills, my goodness, like lived up to the billing pun intended all the puns intended. And, um, I just am so excited to watch them unfold this season. I frankly, I can't figure out what else they could possibly do, but it was just absolutely electric.

It definitely was. And that's just week. Number one, nothing says the NFL like uproar. That is a great word.

Everything turns into a massive uproar. So you can, Oh, are you getting better? Is that you beeping? I'm picking up my sister.

No, it's perfect at Jamie or doll E R D A H L. And she is part of good morning football Monday through Friday, seven o'clock Eastern time. Now host with three other just incredible characters for this Emmy award-winning show. It's so good to catch up with you, James. Thanks so much for a couple of minutes. And again, congratulations. Of course. Thank you so much. Amy is awesome chatting with you.