John Teti

2/7/20

Fox redesigns its NFL graphics for the point-your-phone-at-the-TV era

Everyone has their own focal point on Super Bowl Sunday. Some viewers are there for the halftime show. Others watch…

1/31/20

The annual football detox is upon us

The plan was coming together for the Teti family last weekend. “You take the kids to gymnastics class in the…

1/17/20

Jim Nantz’s two scoops, Chris Myers’ family jewels, and more NFL postseason delicacies

The underdog Houston Texans came into Arrowhead Stadium brimming with confidence for their contest against the…

1/10/20

Reviewing the TV graphics of the NFL playoffs, from the banal to the bizarre

The NFL playoffs are not just a showcase for the players. The postseason, with its gigantic TV audiences, also…

1/3/20

The NFL playoffs are here! Who will win a fancy hat?

The original plan was that football would simply continue forever. Every Sunday, the men would dress up in colorful…

12/20/19

Last-minute gifts for last-place NFL fans

They are the eight most generous teams in football. The Dolphins, Bengals, Jaguars, Chargers, Washingtons, Lions,…

12/13/19

A Block & Tackle treasury of NFL announcing tics

If you watch football for any length of time, you will hear announcers parrot the same familiar phrases. Clichés are…

12/6/19

Fox’s oooonnne weeeeirrrrd trrrriiccck to make any football game seem eppppppic

No technological trick has done more to shape our experience of TV football than the slow motion instant replay.…

11/22/19

The peculiar public privacy of NFL locker rooms

The New England Patriots were exhausted yet exultant. They had faced down the Philadelphia Eagles in a tense Week 11…

11/15/19

Tony Romo springs eternal

Since his 2017 debut, CBS football analyst Tony Romo has been the crown prince of the NFL announcing world. Upon his…

11/8/19

Why Chevy loves those “real people” ads even if viewers hate them

Ad Man X is an award-winning creative executive at a major national agency in Chicago. He has overseen TV ad…

11/1/19

A mediocre football coach and the primal screams that haunt him

As the fourth quarter drew to a close in the Chicago Bears’ Week 8 home game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the …

10/25/19

The deep insecurity of <i>Monday Night Football</i>

The deep insecurity of Monday Night Football

Coming back from commercial late in the second half of Week 7’s Patriots-Jets contest, ABC showed a clip of four…

10/18/19

“Clear and obvious” is how the NFL says “shut up”

In the third quarter of the Cleveland Browns’ 28-32 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland quarterback Baker…

10/11/19

An NFL long snapper tells Block & Tackle about life in football’s least-appreciated position

Specialists—athletes who are good at one particular thing—are not unique to the sport of football, but the gridiron…

10/4/19

“Welcome, my little lost kitty cat”: When the NFL and anime overlap

NBC’s Sunday Night Football uses a standard set of visual effects to spotlight key players in that evening’s…

9/27/19

Block & Tackle’s NFL quiz tests your knowledge of announcers, Steely McBeam, and more

It’s Week 4 of the NFL year, which means that by Monday night, we will already be 23.529% of the way through the…

9/20/19

Is your favorite NFL referee more of a Judge Judy or a Judge Wapner?

Scorn them if you must, but football would not be the same without its officials. NFL fans watch 22 men crumple each…

9/13/19

Antonio Brown exposes the “asshole glitch” in our otherwise perfect information society

Antonio Brown is a person who catches a football. He does not put the ball in the air—another man does that. But…

9/6/19

NFL football returns, and so does the flapper look

“Football seems like the worst sport,” my friend Anna said to me as we shared drinks on a hot evening in August.…

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