Block & Tackle2/7/20Feb 7 20202Block & Tackle2/7/20Block & TackleFox redesigns its NFL graphics for the point-your-phone-at-the-TV eraJohn Teti43Everyone has their own focal point on Super Bowl Sunday. Some viewers are there for the halftime show. Others watch…
Block & Tackle1/31/20Jan 31 2020SaveBlock & Tackle1/31/20Block & TackleThe annual football detox is upon usJohn Teti38The plan was coming together for the Teti family last weekend. “You take the kids to gymnastics class in the…
Block & Tackle1/17/20Jan 17 2020SaveBlock & Tackle1/17/20Block & TackleJim Nantz’s two scoops, Chris Myers’ family jewels, and more NFL postseason delicaciesJohn Teti15The underdog Houston Texans came into Arrowhead Stadium brimming with confidence for their contest against the…
Block & Tackle1/10/20Jan 10 2020SaveBlock & Tackle1/10/20Block & TackleReviewing the TV graphics of the NFL playoffs, from the banal to the bizarreJohn Teti30The NFL playoffs are not just a showcase for the players. The postseason, with its gigantic TV audiences, also…
Block & Tackle1/3/20Jan 3 2020SaveBlock & Tackle1/3/20Block & TackleThe NFL playoffs are here! Who will win a fancy hat?John Teti40The original plan was that football would simply continue forever. Every Sunday, the men would dress up in colorful…
Block & Tackle12/20/19Dec 20 2019SaveBlock & Tackle12/20/19Block & TackleLast-minute gifts for last-place NFL fansJohn Teti20They are the eight most generous teams in football. The Dolphins, Bengals, Jaguars, Chargers, Washingtons, Lions,…
Block & Tackle12/13/19Dec 13 2019SaveBlock & Tackle12/13/19Block & TackleA Block & Tackle treasury of NFL announcing ticsJohn Teti53If you watch football for any length of time, you will hear announcers parrot the same familiar phrases. Clichés are…
Block & Tackle12/6/19Dec 6 2019SaveBlock & Tackle12/6/19Block & TackleFox’s oooonnne weeeeirrrrd trrrriiccck to make any football game seem eppppppicJohn Teti32No technological trick has done more to shape our experience of TV football than the slow motion instant replay.…
Block & Tackle11/22/19Nov 22 20191Block & Tackle11/22/19Block & TackleThe peculiar public privacy of NFL locker roomsJohn Teti31The New England Patriots were exhausted yet exultant. They had faced down the Philadelphia Eagles in a tense Week 11…
Block & Tackle11/15/19Nov 15 20191Block & Tackle11/15/19Block & TackleTony Romo springs eternalJohn Teti59Since his 2017 debut, CBS football analyst Tony Romo has been the crown prince of the NFL announcing world. Upon his…
Block & Tackle11/8/19Nov 8 20195Block & Tackle11/8/19Block & TackleWhy Chevy loves those “real people” ads even if viewers hate themJohn Teti90Ad Man X is an award-winning creative executive at a major national agency in Chicago. He has overseen TV ad…
Block & Tackle11/1/19Nov 1 2019SaveBlock & Tackle11/1/19Block & TackleA mediocre football coach and the primal screams that haunt himJohn Teti36As the fourth quarter drew to a close in the Chicago Bears’ Week 8 home game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the …
Block & Tackle10/25/19Oct 25 20191Block & Tackle10/25/19Block & TackleThe deep insecurity of Monday Night FootballJohn Teti168Coming back from commercial late in the second half of Week 7’s Patriots-Jets contest, ABC showed a clip of four…
Block & Tackle10/18/19Oct 18 2019SaveBlock & Tackle10/18/19Block & Tackle“Clear and obvious” is how the NFL says “shut up”John Teti27In the third quarter of the Cleveland Browns’ 28-32 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland quarterback Baker…
Block & Tackle10/11/19Oct 11 2019SaveBlock & Tackle10/11/19Block & TackleAn NFL long snapper tells Block & Tackle about life in football’s least-appreciated positionJohn Teti48Specialists—athletes who are good at one particular thing—are not unique to the sport of football, but the gridiron…
Block & Tackle10/4/19Oct 4 20194Block & Tackle10/4/19Block & Tackle“Welcome, my little lost kitty cat”: When the NFL and anime overlapJohn Teti29NBC’s Sunday Night Football uses a standard set of visual effects to spotlight key players in that evening’s…
Block & Tackle9/27/19Sep 27 2019SaveBlock & Tackle9/27/19Block & TackleBlock & Tackle’s NFL quiz tests your knowledge of announcers, Steely McBeam, and moreJohn Teti42It’s Week 4 of the NFL year, which means that by Monday night, we will already be 23.529% of the way through the…
Block & Tackle9/20/19Sep 20 20191Block & Tackle9/20/19Block & TackleIs your favorite NFL referee more of a Judge Judy or a Judge Wapner?John Teti26Scorn them if you must, but football would not be the same without its officials. NFL fans watch 22 men crumple each…
Block & Tackle9/13/19Sep 13 2019SaveBlock & Tackle9/13/19Block & TackleAntonio Brown exposes the “asshole glitch” in our otherwise perfect information societyJohn Teti84Antonio Brown is a person who catches a football. He does not put the ball in the air—another man does that. But…
Block & Tackle9/6/19Sep 6 20193Block & Tackle9/6/19Block & TackleNFL football returns, and so does the flapper lookJohn Teti104“Football seems like the worst sport,” my friend Anna said to me as we shared drinks on a hot evening in August.…