Tonight was the Super Bowl opener in Las Vegas - lots of pomp, some pageantry, light and loose vibes as expected. The stars were out, the coaches and players made fun appearances, but this NFL network reporter Jeremiah Fennell stole the damn show.
I'd seen some clips of him before, and kid reporters/interviewers are nothing too new - especially at preseason press conferences in sports leagues, there will be some kid who has a pre-rehearsed question or reads something off of their phone with no follow up, and it's funny and cute and gets the players to laugh. But this dude Jeremiah?! This man is ripping legit interview questions to the top NFL talent in their generation and not missing a damn beat. Like seriously... these are solid questions:
That's a damn good job - and these aren't just canned - kid's not asking 'what's your favorite color?' Or 'who was your favorite player you looked up to when you were growing up?' We're hearing specific, tailored questions to these all world class athletes, one after the other, and barely using his phone as a guide.
Does he have some support in writing the questions? Probably some. It does help that he has the National Effin' Football League behind him, but at the same time, the young man had to start somewhere... I don't know the whole story, but credit to his creative parents (presumably) for the encouragement and going out and helping him make it happen. That's the best way to learn anything, just dive into the deep end of the pool and keep taking hacks at the plate. This story is kind of getting me fired up here...
The kid is 11 out here crushing it at the sporting event of all sporting events while I'm 30 blogging in my apartment in San Francisco wearing my damn navy blue turned grey zip up sweater on a Monday night yelling at Producer Reese about some Youtube video that we haven't produced yet. Getting credentials ain't easy, never mind one from the NFL - sometimes it feels like we can barely get a media credential to film at the Showdown in North Beach for the Super Bowl, this dude is at the stadium MEETING HIS MOMENT.
What percentage of the population's mouth would just stop working and become unable to produce sounds in these situations? I say 90% - now add in the pressure element, that takes off another 8%, and now we're talking only a handful of people have the potential to do this, and only a small fraction of those people ever actually get the chance or have the desire to do something like this. I've had a few high pressure interviews in my mogul life (Scott Gaffney, Jonny Moseley, Jeff Clark, Bianca Valenti, Jay Sawvel, Dave Portnoy, Tony Gemignani, the Muni Driver at the Dolores Hill Bomb) and it's pretty common to lose your place. But even when the interview is going well, it's indeed quite difficult to find the balance between focusing on the conversation you are having, while also asking purposeful questions upcoming, while still listening to the answers of the interviewee and potentially amending your questions slightly based on their response - all while doing it live. It does help that folks opt in and want to speak with him, and the kid reporter thing helps build a natural rapport - I learned the hard way the importance of that rapport factor when I messed up my interview with Portnoy at the AZ Bowl (RIP Barstool SF.)
But hey I'm happy for the young fella - everyone has their journey and it's about time in the game. Some folks don't find their game until they are in their 30's, or 40's, and the reality is - most people never find their game, or never choose to play. So props to you Jeremiah - hope we cross paths down the road and we can exchange a few notes (salute emoji).
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