Vernon Kay has
always been a fan and player of the sport, he is one of the faces of Channel 4
coverage on our screens each week during the season.
But what does he think of the game here in the UK? Does he
think there is a chance that an NFL Europe league will return in the future?
Who will win the NFL DROTY this coming season?
He managed to spare some of his time to answer this and many
more questions…
Gur Samuel, MD of
American Football Development asked - As
a TV presenter how far away do you think the UK game is from getting any kind
of exposure beyond local papers, and what steps do you feel BAFA and its teams
need to take to get TV coverage?
VK - I get asked this
question very often, mainly from players within the UK game. The answer is
simple and please forgive my bluntness but it’s an honest answer and it comes
from knowing how tough it is getting NFL action onto our TV screens. We will
never get anything more than maybe highlights of the Brit Bowl should Sky
choose to show it...The UK game is far from being competitive enough to
constitute regular coverage on UK TV, beyond UK sites streaming games (which is
excellent by the way). If you think about the coverage big participation sports
in the UK get like Crown green bowling, Curling, Athletics, Darts, Snooker,
Horse trials, Swimming etc. they get very little TV coverage, if any at all and
that’s at the highest level. Why would TV channels show a sport that is at an
amateur level that has minimal interest outside of all the above sports? Before
we want to show/watch the UK game on TV, UK fans as a collective need to watch
ALL football content that is broadcast in the UK, if numbers of viewers rises
then it will draw attention to the game from the TV commissioners
perspective.
Neil Van Holland,
a coach at the Bury Saints asked - Will C4 start showing UK games/highlights or
do a roundup of what’s going on at the end of their NFL show?
VK - No...See above. We
barely have time to show all the NFL coverage, just ask Jags fans. LOL.
William White,
coach at Ouse Valley Eagles asked - What's your take on the standard of the UK
game, and what ideas do you have to make it better?
VK - The standard of
the UK game in my opinion, and having been a player of four years with the
Warriors is that the level of competitiveness and skill is getting worse...I
know this will upset people and I'm sorry but it’s true. I can only talk of what
I have seen over the past four years, each year teams diminish in numbers and
over a four year period the teams I played didn't improve. That’s why we love
playing the Blitz and I'm sure they think the same. Beating teams 40/50-0
doesn't make anyone better. It seems the UK game needs to really improve its
recruitment and increase the level of coaching. I'm not talking specifics, I'm
talking generally.
Teams like the
Lancashire Wolverines are a prime example of how to progress in the game. They
have a good solid management structure and the player numbers seem to always be
competitive, hence their constant improvement. I am always confused how Uni
numbers are always huge across the board BUT those numbers don't seem to filter
through to the senior game. Why is this??
I think we need to
take some of the coaching back to basics, maybe with travelling camps or aided
by the NFL. Some of the basics you see when playing are executed very poorly but
it’s very simple to change, and with better coaching this will improve.
ANDREW GAMBRILL,
Head Coach of the Women’s Great Britain Flag team asked - What are your
thoughts on the growth of the Women’s game - both flag and tackle - in the UK?
VK - I think for the
development of the whole sport in the UK, the development of the women game is
fantastic news. If we can all help increase fan numbers and interest in the
game then more and more things will begin to happen in the UK. I haven't
personally seen any women football but my daughter loves the game and has a
killer spiral on her passing!
JO KILBY, Quarterback
of the Birmingham Lions and Women’s GB Women’s team asked - What steps are
needed to get UK ball - including Women - a higher profile re TV and commercial
interest and investment?
VK - Re TV we are
along way if at all from getting the UK game on TV
Re-Commercial
interest, it all starts from the top. If we can build a positive, productive
management structure for the League then we can start to push things
commercially. I do believe a good structure is in place so let’s see what
happens. After playing the Tirol Raiders and seeing what they have to offer
both to fans and the sponsors the UK game is a long way from coming close to
that kind of level of investment. I remember watching the Brit Bowl in 88-89
and it was sponsored by Budweiser and had 25,000 people watching. The past 4 Brit
bowls I have played in had my parents and several others. Maybe 1000-1500 I'm
not sure, it didn't look like many, so the game has a long way to go to attract
a major sponsor and increase numbers.
NEIL WARREN plays
for the West Lothian Astros flag football team, he asked - What position is the
hardest to play in football?
VK – QB without a
doubt.
All good and great
teams have always had a QB that can not only play at a great level but can
naturally lead the team from the front. That goes for the UK teams as well, the
Warriors had Jerome Allen at QB who was such a naturally gifted passer and we
were successful. Now we are in transition it’s unto our coaches to get Brad
Thompson and Nick Jacquet up to speed with the offence of the Warriors and we
will see how the future goes, so far so good!
All the Super Bowl
winners have always had a great QB at the helm.
NEALE MCMASTER of
the Ouse Valley Eagles asked - Why did it take so long from playing with the
All Stars to starting back with the Warriors?
VK - Life. I left the
Allstars after 3 years at 16 when the team folded then played for Fylde Falcons
for a year, even the Manchester Spartans till I was 19. Then along came Uni and
all that comes with it. It wasn't until ITV asked me if I wanted to put the
Allstars back together for a TV show that I met Tony Allen and the rest is
History.
GEMMA TORR co-founder
of NFLBrits asked - If you could take one player, past or present to watch the
Super Bowl with you, who would you take and why?
VK - I watched this year’s
Super Bowl with some pretty cool people Brittany Spears being one of them and
Steve Tyler another, but Football wise I would say Ray Lewis is a good person
to watch any game with and Michael Irvin, guys with character who have achieved
all you can from the game and who also know how to enjoy it.
JOEL HOLCOMBE A
keen New York Giants fan asked - Shane Ray and Landon Collins have stated they
are both aiming for nothing less than DROTY. Which do you think has the edge,
or would you choose someone else as a contender?
VK - I am always
nervous to mention rookie QBs as they are almost always bad first season or
they have a decent first season then can't maintain the performance through the
second year. Andrew Luck being a recent exception. So Winston and Mariota can
take a back seat as where they have come from is worlds apart from the NFL.
Shane Ray is, let’s
face it, learning from two of the best in the league Von Miller and DeMarcus
Ware, so he can only improve but will he get playing time? We will see. Landon
Collins is a natural leader and the Giants need that on Defence but God only
knows how a rookie in the defensive back field is going to cope against the
likes of the Cowboys, Eagles and Redskins, those teams have killer passing
games.
This year I like the
WR's in this year’s class of 2015, Amari Cooper has the pressure of making
Derek Carr look good but he is a great play and route runner. Tyler Lockett is
playing in the Seahawks offence that lacked that killer punch in the playoffs
last year but as a double threat player in the slot and backfield he will add
further depth to the boosted Hawks/Jimmy Graham offence. Nelson Agholor at the
Eagles and Kevin White at the Bears all need to be watched. DeVante Parker and
the newly contracted Ryan Tannehill could be the perfect partnership.
DROTY ??Who knows but
Randy Gregory at the Cowboys will be in the mix if he is fit.
MARTIN LYDDON a Miami Dolphins fanatic asked - If you could play
any position apart from your current one what would it be?
VK – QB. I like to
think I have a pretty decent arm and I know I can read a defence well. Plus I
always wanted to wear a Jim McMahon head band. One of his distant nieces went
to my school...FACT
PAUL GORDON,
Coach with the Berkshire Renegades asked - What are the differences from when
you first played to now, and what does the UK game need to do to compete at the
level of Europe's elite?
VK - I honestly think
the game in the late 80's was more popular than it is now, in terms of Football
being a house hold "Niche" sport. It seems everyone then knew Dan
Marino, Joe Montana etc...Everyone seemed to follow a team and everyone seemed
to know their local team, Staines Removers, Crewe's Missiles etc. We have more
and more outlets for the game today, Sky, Ch4, ESPN, Game Pass but I don't
think there are as many casual fans of the sport as there were then. I remember
going to Wembley throughout the late 80's watching the American Bowls and the
Monarchs and noticing it was kids taking their dads now a days it seems to be
dads taking their kids. Which isn’t bad but are we doing enough to seal the
future of the game in the UK? Yes, I know the NFL is here for the long run but
how are they/we going to maintain interest in the sport. I think we need to
somehow develop a full time American Football academy for our elite athletes
like Efe Obada from the Warriors but also encourage kids to get into the sport
via Flag etc. Another major issue I have is that we no longer have a magazine
type show which gives us all the behind the scenes stuff, anyone remember Red42
on Ch4? Big brash colourful footage of all the Americana that came with the
game plus fantastic montages of the Hits and Touchdowns etc...When was the last
time you saw the rules explained on UKTV. Not for a long time. Channels are too
scared of isolating the fans of the game who know how it’s played, "You’re
dumbing down your coverage!!" Is a very common post on forums, people that
write that kind of thing need to realise that in terms of TV figures outside of
the Super Bowl viewing figures for football are small they must and will go up,
but how do you bring people to the sport and keep them? Simple, Education. New
fans don't need to know how you camo man coverage before the snap or what the
differences between cover 4 and cover 2 are, they just need to know what the
hell is a first down? I t only takes 40 seconds to explain what the sport is
about. The rest is just fluff. They will learn in time once they are hooked. I
love this sport and want it to grow so we must do all we can as a community to
help it get bigger. As far as the UK game is concerned see above in previous
questions/answers.
If we want to compete in Europe we need to bring in
Americans. But they will want paying and the UK teams don't have the cash and
secondly the right to bring in Americans. All the big teams in Europe have
Americans. The key players for the Tirol Raiders were all from the States,
QB,RB,MLB,FS/CB, and it showed. Before we go that far we need to think about
how we bring in cash to the sport??
JAN SAUNDERS was
a fan of the NFL Europe and asked - With the London Monarchs being the first
real taste of competitive ball, and the success of the International Series
Games, do you think NFL Europe could return in some way?
VK - I asked this
question to Jerry Jones when he was here last year and he unreservedly said
"Not a chance! Too expensive for very minimal return..." Remember the
NFL makes near $9Bln a year in the US so why would they invest a lot of money
in Europe for very little return. Trust me I would love to see it return but it
isn’t going to happen. Still have my World Bowl final ticket and programme.
VK - All the Bears of
85. These were my first Football idols and my brother and I had an old VHS
video which summarised the Bears 85 season and we wore that tape out. It was
always on. I know all the words to it still to this day. That and
"Crunchtime" were my love of the big hit came from!
Also getting to know
Ray Lewis been a lot of fun.
UKFD asked - What’s your personal stance on Deflategate?
VK - Hahahahahahha........Doesn't
bother me....I won a lot of money on the Pats! Seems the Pats like to bend the
rules in order to win.
Ahh you pooed it to ask my Qs ;-)
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