Inside Noah Eagle's NBC whirlwind, from Notre Dame-Miami to filling in for Mike Tirico
The whirlwind 36 hours he’d just experienced, calling the Notre Dame-Miami matchup in South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday before announcing “SNF” on short notice, had left him energized rather than exhausted.
Key points
- Eagle eventually returned to his New York apartment for less than 24 hours before a car whisked him to Philadelphia, where he stood in for Tirico again, this time on the NBA as the Sixers hosted the Boston Celtics in their first matchup since Jaylen Brown was traded from Boston to Philadelphia this offseason.
- Noah Eagle considers himself a “very good sleeper,” able to wind down pretty quickly after calling a late-night sporting event – not uncommon given he's a play-by-play announcer for multiple sports.
- 8 in place of the ill Mike Tirico, Eagle could not find the REM cycle.
Eagle's next assignment was in the back of his mind as he went to Notre Dame Stadium, but he said that once NBC went on air an hour before kickoff, it was not difficult to stay focused.
“Just focused on the task at hand at that point, which was Notre Dame-Miami and this incredible matchup that we had Saturday night,” Eagle said.
Additional details
- When Tirico’s condition – still unknown, although it is considered minor and he is expected back on the microphone for his 300th NFL game Nov.
- Zaleznik, the stats consigliere, and Eagle's spotter, Tyler Fried, made the drive from South Bend that morning in time for the meetings.
- “Once that game ended,” Eagle said, “then all those thoughts (of "SNF") went right back into my mind,” Eagle hopped in a car and drove two hours from South Bend to Chicago (and gained an hour back thanks to traveling into Central Time).
- “SNF” producer Rob Hyland and director Drew Esocoff start with the editorial meeting, in which sideline reporter Melissa Stark and color commentator Cris Collinsworth discuss the storylines they want to address during the broadcast.
- That meant his preparation didn’t start from scratch, especially compared to studying for a college team that has 100 players on the roster, duplicate numbers and dozens of transfers in either direction.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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