Jade McCarthy | NFL Writer, Emmy Award Winner

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Every trade, every overtime win, every game. Our local experts cover the biggest stories around your team every day. Search Locked On plus your favorite NFL team on the Odyssey app or wherever you get podcasts. The Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Jade McCarthy formerly of Sports Center and ESPN's NFL Sunday Countdown is now branching out in marvelous ways in a different phase of her career and I've been working on her to try to get her here on the show so very excited to have her with us tonight.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You can find me on Twitter After Hours CBS or on our Facebook page and without further ado Jade you're still buried in the football world even though it's in a different capacity and we'll get to that but as we get set to kick off week three in the NFL what are some of your impressions of the season to date? You know the season has been so much fun and Amy I have to be honest with you right like the NFL is one of those leagues that every week you're like okay they can't possibly top this oh it can't really get better than this and then somehow it does and you know I just think about some of the games that we've seen I mean probably the thing that stands out the most to me is the bills and just how dominant that team has been the first two weeks of the season when you look at they've outscored their opponents like 72 to 20 something I want to say I mean just the numbers are staggering when it comes to what Buffalo has been able to do I think their match up this weekend against Miami is one that everybody should have a pink highlighter scribbled across because you know it's really going to be a fun one two two and oh teams it's a divisional game of course and I think Tua has really thrived thus far and sure there are still questions about that Dolphins team and there's questions about you know Buffalo's secondary I think if you had to pinpoint somewhere on the bills that is a question mark that would probably be it that was a big question going into the season and obviously they have fared exceptionally well and the defense has played really well but it'll be interesting to see you know what the Miami offense has in store for them I don't think anybody necessarily thought the Bengals would come out of the gate 0-2 or the Titans would come out of the gate 0-2 or the Raiders would come out of the gate 0-2 I mean there are definitely some of these teams that you go oh all right well that's not necessarily how I thought things were going to start but you know I also think that we all know that it's week two we're going into week three of course tomorrow night and it's early like know the chances of being an 0-2 team making the playoffs like we all know the numbers are not favorable in that case but there's a lot of season ahead and there's a lot to learn about all of these teams in the NFL still yes so a couple of things that I love about this early part of the season the first month is it really is a race to consistency the first couple teams that can find consistency but also as much as I do believe that in pro sports you are what your record says you are it's kind of humorous to look around and see the teams not only those that are 0-2 but then think about the other teams that are 2-0 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 2-0 but they've scored two offensive touchdowns that's it and some of the other teams right like the New York Giants and good for them good for Brian Daybal who's got that team at 2-0 but also it's funny to think about the the half dozen teams that are undefeated and recognize that there is a wide arc on the spectrum when it comes to 2-0 yeah no there definitely is and I think that there's a lot of be truth truth to be told for that and you know it's funny Mike Tannenbaum of ESPN of the 33rd team who I work with there he and I were on Sirius XM this morning and we were talking about the Bucks and you know being that 2-0 team and you know Tom Brady sort of getting the the New Orleans jinx off of his back of course he hadn't won against the Saints during his tenure in Tampa Bay and so he finally beat them last weekend and one of the things that we were really talking about is that Bucks team and their defense and how dominant they can be yes and and they're likely going to continue to be if they can stay healthy right I mean health is always part of the equation in the NFL like you have to manage to have a relatively healthy season because by the end of the season everybody is banged up but that Tampa Bay defense I think under Todd Bowles really has a chance to be stellar throughout the course of the season and the reality is is you know that Tom Brady is not going to lose you games so if they can have a stellar defense and they have Brady out there running the offense and yeah they're going to be missing some guys you know with the Mike Evans suspension of course for one game this weekend against the Packers and some injuries that they're dealing with on offense but if they can kind of keep that ship tied together with not too many injuries you have to like their chances of being standing late in the season if not into Super Bowl weekend we're excited to have a few minutes with Jade McCarthy who's got an extensive resume she and I actually worked at ESPN at the same time but didn't cross paths until after we were both alum she used to host SportsCenter and was also part of NFL Sunday Countdown and now it's branched out into some other really cool ventures and you mentioned the 33rd team so why don't we go there because that's obviously just a branch of this NFL fraternity and in describing it you said it's a leadership group that you're part of and it's coaches and it's execs and it's players who want to change the way the game is viewed what does that mean Jade I think a lot of it is sort of allowing people to have an inside look at football right so we have all these different executives coaches players who have been involved with the National Football League for decades right I mean this is founded by Mike Tannenbaum Joe Banner who I've known for a long time you know Joe is the president of the Eagles when I was working in Philadelphia as a you know as a sports reporter there and then he and I crossed paths at ESPN you know that whole ESPN alum network Amy that you mentioned before Joe and I are both a part of that as well and so he introduced me to this group with the 33rd team and now Mike T of course is also with ESPN so there's a lot of little like to connect the dots here that you do in this world but but really we are taking people inside football and sharing it from the lens of people who have been on the inside whether it's building rosters or calling the plays you know Marty Morningwig was on with us this morning and obviously he has a resume that has a lot of stops and talking to him about quarterback development and he has great energy and it's really it's really insightful to have these conversations with different execs and coaches who have been a part of this game for decades and some of my favorite conversations are about leadership or are about you know how is the league trending and where do you see things moving and it's really interesting to have these conversations and it's great to be a part of sharing those conversations you know which we do on our website the 3013.com and which we do obviously on you know Sirius XM when I'm on hosting shows for the group there so it's it's definitely an extension in a way of things that I've done in my past and it feels like it's moving forward too because it's a it's a growth organization and that's always a fun part to to play a role in. I can't imagine it's a tough sell when you're talking about working with guys like Bill Parcells who's a Hall of Fame head coach or Bill Polian also a Hall of Famer even Bill Cowher a lot of the other guys that are listed on the site are Hall of Famers with such incredible resumes and it's a job specifically coaching in which there is so much pressure there are only 32 teams in the league so only 32 head coaches at any one point and my goodness we seem to be in a cycle where 25% of them turn over every single year whether you've made the playoffs whether you have a recent Super Bowl on your resume like Doug Peterson's a good example or whether in the case of say I don't know what David Cully you were handed a train wreck and you did what you could to to bring it together and those guys played hard for you but yet you were essentially a sacrificial lamp. Yeah there's there's no patience in a league where look I mean the reality is is that you talk about the quarterback position in the NFL and there there's no patience for developing quarterbacks but it's a developmental position in the NFL like if if you look at where guys are when they first start like look at Tua versus where he was you know prior to this this season and you know there's still there's still questions to be answered to be sure but if you look at the player he's been for the first two weeks you might feel like well he's grown since you know last season and same thing with Jalen Hurts right if you look at Josh Allen and who he was his first season in Buffalo versus who he is now as a player there's dramatic differences so it's a developmental position and you know there is no patience in the league and we can't say that enough Amy and and the same goes for coaches and you know one of the things that I thought was really interesting and we were talking about the Bucks before but the way that Todd Bowles got his second head coaching opportunity you know after being at the Jets down there in Tampa Bay you know came with Bruce Arians who they've worked together for decades at this point and I remember being out in Arizona at the Cardinals with both of them when I was at ESPN doing a feature story on on Bruce Arians and talking to Todd Bowles out there and you know for for for B.A.

to say you know what like this is an opportunity that Todd Bowles should get and and and for it to play out the way it did I I thought was just really intriguing and I think it's terrific and you know and and I hope that Bowles has a tremendous season down there in Tampa Bay and I think he has a really good shot too but I thought that that was really interesting because that's not the way we typically see a handoff in terms of head coaches in the NFL. Before we leap into Jade's other really cool venture I want to to tell you what it says on her Twitter at Jade McCarthy. There's a gorgeous photo Jade by the way and you list in order speaker, storyteller, sports broadcaster and I I appreciate that sports is on the bottom line there but it's clear that you have some passions that you want people to know about and that you have have the new opportunities to share. I find that storytelling is an art and when you understand it it really becomes a part of your soul so what do you love about storytelling itself? Oh gosh you know I have always loved storytelling I think I fell in love with it as a kid I mean it just always felt like it was going to be in me and I love how you say it becomes part of your soul because I think it does and you know if you if you craft stories and I've done it in different ways you know I've done feature stories for television for gosh probably more years than I'd like to admit but you know there's that medium of telling stories there's writing and telling stories and I've been doing some more writing more recently and I just do know that there is something fulfilling in my soul when I complete those stories you know whether it be on you know on a computer or seeing a feature come to life on a television screen or finding ways to share people's stories that's just always been a part of me and it does have a great fulfillment attached to it for me there's something really special about it and you know I remember years and years and years and years ago when I was a young reporter in Alabama a photographer that I worked with said to me you know when when we walk into someone's house or someone's school or whatever it may be when you're telling somebody's story that is like it's their story and they are the most important person at that moment and it doesn't matter like what else is going on in your life or anything else it's all about them at that point in time and it's funny like you know over the course of my career like I definitely had people say to me like can you insert yourself into this story more or can you be a bigger part of this and I always I always felt like but it's not my story like I'm telling somebody else's story you know in this particular instance and there was something that that was really to be treasured about that and and making sure that you identified who that person was and and really trying to have them come to life and have them come across whether it be the screen or or the page or you know the radio if it's something that that you're just you know closing your eyes and trying to paint the picture of that person Jay McCarthy is with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio and she has a variety of ways that she can tell stories part of the Sports Spectrum family now Sports Spectrum with Jason Romano been on his podcast a couple of times he also does a great job giving people a platform to tell stories but your particular adventure with Sports Spectrum is called Transformed and I'm going to let you tell us about the story behind that story and why this is so important to you yeah so Jason and I again crossed paths at ESPN we actually did work together some there but we didn't know each other super super well we got to know each other more after ESPN and one of the things that I shared in a blog post you know one year after I was laid off by ESPN you know number of years ago like a hundred of us were all laid off on the same day and and one of the things that really helped me get through was leaning more into my faith and I got really involved with my church and so I wrote about it you know one year after the layoff and Jason read it and reached out to me and said hey will you come on my podcast I you know I'd love to share your testimony and I said sure so you know I went on his podcast and we just kind of kept talking from there and he was like would you ever be interested in doing any podcast for us and I was like yeah that could be fun and you know it was a neat way to kind of reconnect with different people and and have sort of the maybe the conversation that you had in the hallway at ESPN but not a conversation that you had on the set at ESPN.

Jason and I put our heads together and felt like it would be again just a fulfilling thing for for me to do and something that the Sports Spectrum family was interested in having me do a podcast for them it's called Transformed with Jade McCarthy and I have always sort of like we talked about with storytelling Amy I have always loved those those moments those pivotal moments in life and in sports so often it's like okay what like what's going on you know beyond the lines that makes us really interested in this person and and you know I always use the Olympics as an example for this because for the most part like if I just threw curling up on your television screen or if I just threw a bobsled race up like you might not be like oh I can't wait to watch this right but when you know the story of the guy who's in the bobsled and where he came from and what he's overcome to get there then all of a sudden you're like yeah man I want I want to see how this goes you're invested yes it completely invests you and and NBC does a terrific job with these stories you know Olympic in Olympic out like they always do them so well and it you know it's something that I think makes us all care because like you said it invests us in that particular race or competition and so I've always really enjoyed sharing those stories and for me the chance to tie in that faith component which I I have found is sometimes a really significant part of somebody's life and why they operate the way they do or you know why they have gotten to where they are right like it's it has gotten them through different aspects of life and different challenges and and we and we all face different challenges in life we all face different troubles in life but it's how we face them and with what faith we have that helps get us through them so the chance to be able to share those opportunity opportunity those conversations and really provide what I hope is an opportunity for our listeners for when they have maybe those moments of transformation come in their lives is something that that really excites me and it's also great because it does you know it lends to like I said connecting with some of the people that you know I worked with along the way at ESPN I mean Brian Dawkins came on recently on Transformed and gosh everything with with Doc is so motivating I mean he's so passionate he is and like I mean you just want to run run through a wall for him like you just do I mean there is just no doubt about it I'm so fortunate that he came on Transformed and he and I had shared a conversation for the Sports Spectrum podcast probably about a year ago as well so I'm you know really grateful that he makes the time when I say hey Brian would you do this and and just to to share those conversations with others so it's really been a rewarding venture and it's something that has been on my heart to to have those conversations and to be forward about about my faith and and that aspect of my life. I can imagine now looking back you recognize what a turning point it was when your career took that drastic turn and you were part of layoffs but I often love when people look back at a moment that maybe it was it was a turn it was something they would expect and it was a curveball if you will and yet what came after that we can see that moment as an opportunity actually more than it was at the time feeling like it was it was a negative it was a failure. Yeah and you know I think what's so interesting is that when change happens in our life it's all through the lens in which we view it right because whether you take a new job or you lose a job there's change coming it's just that you're you're viewing it a different way when it's something that you choose and I think so often you know if we can take a step back and you know take off either the rose-colored glasses or the glasses that you want to put on to hide from a bad day you know it really just it just means okay like if I don't like what I'm dealing with right now or if it's not working the way it needs to be working then I just need to find a way to create more change accept the change that has happened whether I chose it or not and find a way to move forward in a way that is going to be you know beneficial for those around me and myself. It is honestly as you point out all about perspective but also I think that hindsight is so powerful because when you can look back and see how at one point in my life this happened and yet it led to this sometimes it gives you a perspective where okay not every change maybe it wasn't expected but not every change is a negative and I survived that and it made me stronger or God brought me through this and look where I ended up and look what plan he had for me. Yeah it definitely is I think that comes with age too which is one of the reasons why I tell people I don't mind being old because what I know now versus what I knew when I was in my 20s. Yes yes totally and I do think that like you know being reflective of that faithfulness is so important right because you know there there's always going to be challenge there's always going to be trouble that's just part of this world that we live in and to be able to look back and go okay I you know I'm dealing with this now but if I reflect on what God has already brought me through then yes he can bring me through this too. So I really think that that introspection and that recognition of what has already come can help get us through you know what currently is and you know and and like don't even get into like what will be because there's enough that like we're all dealing with on like one particular day to not have to like think way too far down the road. Oh it's so true I'm actually glad I don't know the future because I think that would be way too overwhelming so if you would like to be inspired more Jade McCarthy's Transformed is on the Sports Spectrum platform and not only do they have a Twitter handle but if you go to Jade's Twitter at Jade McCarthy you can see links there and the Brian Dawkins you want to be inspired well okay and also a recent conversation with Bryce Young's dad Craig in addition it's the 33rd team I don't know how you have time to do all of this Jade but I'm very impressed that you stay so measured plus being a wife and a mom do you sleep I guess would be my question. I do I do you know sometimes more than others let's just say it's football season so you know if anything starts to fall off right it's always sleep. Yeah sleep is optional jademccarthy.com and Jade I hope we can do this again fantastic to talk to you thank you so much. Oh great to be with you Amy continued blessings and best of luck to you. 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