A Eulogy of Sorts ... for a Podcast
Around The NFL is gone. And that's worth noting.
In late May, the three hosts of the NFL Network’s Around The NFL podcast - host Dan Hanzus and co-hosts Gregg Rosenthal and Marc Sessler recorded a fairly episode called “2024 NFL Offseason Glossary” where they had what in many ways established as their format. Review the NFL news and stories - and what each tongue-in-cheek self-described ‘Heroes’ thought about players and subjects - but instead of just talking about it in a rote format, create a game or atypical structure (like a Glossary, where they assign something to each letter of the alphabet). They also had almost co-host Colleen Wolfe on, which also feels pretty apt.
Then, the podcast went dark for six weeks. It’s the NFL offseason so many football related podcasts have taken breaks. But … they’ve also all announced that, and never for a month and half. The crew above also remained completely silent on social media about the pause, which meant that something wasn’t ideal with the podcast in its future.
It was - and remains -a bizarre turn of events. It was one of the most popular NFL podcasts in existence and certainly one of if not THE most popular podcast property of the NFL. Why would the podcast not be a certainty?
Finally, Rosenthal announced the situation last week with a post to X:
This is definitively a bittersweet post by Gregg - aka, The Boss, aka 60% G - and importantly it includes Chris Wesseling, one of the original heroes who tragically passed from cancer a few years ago. The podcast never took a break and turned their Super Bowl wrapup (Wess passed two days prior to the game) into a toast to Wess in an on-air grieving that was genuinely powerful.
Rosenthal is staying on and hosting what seems like the NFL Networks’s attempt to replicate the New York Times and ESPN’s “Daily” podcast. I have doubts that the chemistry and fun of the Around The NFL podcast can be replicated, but I do wish for the best to Gregg and the rest of folks involved. I hope that Dan and Marc land well and I would hope to support whatever it is they’ll be involved with.
I just can’t quite figure it out. And I think … neither could the NFL Network. They never really monetized the podcast - for one, the ads were always terrible and often for other NFL podcasts, which is shocking if you listen to as many pods as I do. You’re telling me that Better Help or Athletic Greens didn’t want to pay for ads? The NFL must have either been incompetent with this or wanted to charge a truly unreasonable amount for that ad space. (Note: I’m not saying the podcast would be better with these ads, but it would have been presumably more profitable.)
There was an almost comical rotation of podcast producers, and when you think about how little it must cost to pay that salary - even in Los Angeles - and then factor in what the NFL clearly does pay for - it’s pretty bizarre.
The podcast was massive in the UK - something that seems quite important to the league in terms of expansion and hosting yearly games - but no matter, it was canceled anyway.
It was also so clear how much these guys were - and are - friends. When Wess died, Wolfe broke down in tears talking about it in the Super Bowl pre-game and they all clearly hang out together socially.
It was a must-listen podcast for me - for a bit of time, I even moderated a subreddit for the podcast when I was wondering if anyone listened to it back in 2015 or so. I chatted with all of these guys online, and they all seemed like genuinely good, smart people. On air, they often criticized the NFL or parts of it, something I really respected was allowed. But most of all, they had fun and I really, really enjoyed it.
Anyway, I will miss it. The games that Dan created (mostly, though I’m sure were suggested by the other guys) and the schticks he insisted on (pretending he was from a “coal town” in New Jersey, singing songs about Robert Nkemdiche or others (often taped in secret before the episode would record), triple-sourcing stories he presumably dug up … he is an absolute natural at making a show seem loose but structured, funny but focused. I have to imagine he will land on his feet soon.
And I hope that includes Sessler, who is an absolute one-of-one individual. A misanthropic vegetarian insomniac, Sessler refused to be just a run-of-the-mill writer at the NFL - often inserting references that must have caused editors consternation as they were often random, esoteric and of course hilarious - and that manifested itself even better on-air. In the games where some preparation was required, Sessler almost always took a left turn. Play a game about predictions for the Super Bowl, and Sesslers’s answer would involve a UFO sighting, an animal attack or some overly complex specificity that ensured there was absolutely no way Sessler would get it right. (He did somewhat predict the Philly Special, though.)
There are lots of options with NFL podcasts, but this was the one I always prioritized and now it’s gone. It’s the end of an era, for sure.
My take, Dan & Marc got a severence package that is paid out over a period of time contingent on their silence on the matter. To say it another way, they talk, the checks stop. As to 60% G, my unfounded take is the NFL knew his personal Healthcare situation and leveraged it to prevent the heroes from simply going independent. Non-compete clauses are basically invalid in California, so the only way to ensure the show doesn’t simply get resurrected, is to keep Gregg. As to the why this all happened, mirth, I believe that as the popularity grew, what the podcasts bozos said hit the SLF's and owners' ears more and more. ATN's profit, in the eyes of the owners, was less than a rounding error, however, the mirth, the mirth we know and love, became too much for them to bear.
Heed the call...
Thanks for sharnig. Well-written. I can't believe ATN is gone.