PROGRAMMING GOLD
Houston has had congenital quarterback envy since the NFL returned here in 2002, and that malady will continue this weekend with Matt Ryan (Falcons), Aaron Rodgers (Packers), Tom Brady (Patriots) and Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers) competing for a chance to play in Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in two weeks.
As the NFL continues its steady climb back from tepid ratings prior to the presidential election, the four signalcallers bring considerable star power to the networks. Fox likely lost a couple of ratings points for Sunday’s NFC title game when the Cowboys bowed out last weekend against Green Bay, but the Packers still have a huge national following.
As for the AFC, CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said he couldn’t have come up with a more telegenic matchup than Steelers at Patriots.
Of the four signal-callers, Ryan is the only one without a Super Bowl championship and the one whose credentials could be burnished most brightly with a good performance this weekend.
“He obviously wants to get to the Super Bowl. He craves the Super Bowl,” said former Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, now part of CBS’ studio crew. “Absolutely it could change the national perception (of Ryan), and it could change his perception of himself.”
Gonzalez said Ryan has “turned the corner” toward greatness.
“He gets in that huddle, and he’s in complete command. You can see him on the sidelines in guys’ faces,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve heard he’s been telling (offensive coordinator) Kyle Shanahan ‘this is what I like and this is what I don’t like,’ and that’s the reason he has become the player he has. … This is not a fluke. I would expect for the rest of his career for him to be doing what he’s doing now.”
Phil Simms, who will call the AFC game with Jim Nantz, said he hates the idea of playoff wins cementing a player’s “legacy” but acknowledged that Ryan needs a NFC title and probably a Super Bowl win “to get the praise for what he has done so far in his career.”
Roethlisberger, Simms said, is “pretty well set” in the legacy department. Rodgers, he added, is the most physically gifted of the four quarterbacks still gunning for the Super Bowl. Brady, meanwhile, has unlimited flexibility based on his 17 years working with Bill Belichick in New England.
“They’ve used four different offenses during that time, and they’ve kept parts of each of them,” Simms said. “The library of plays at their disposal is second to none. … They score two touchdowns by doing it one way, and then they come out with a different formation and a different though process, and it’s because they don’t want you to be able to adapt.”
The common thread for all four,
Simms added, is that “you can put them in almost any system, and physically they would do well. They know how to play the positon, and every one of them was meant to throw. They were going to make a living throwing, pitching, doing something with that arm.”
Texans still on the air
Phil Simms estimates there are “10, 12, 13 guys who can make all the throws” within the NFL’s quarterback fraternity. He did not name names, so determine for yourself whether it includes Brock Osweiler, whose development during the offseason will be a big part of the Texans’ prospects for 2017.
There will, of course, be plenty of chances to discuss the topic. Even though the Texans are out of their playoffs, the Texans Radio segment on KILT (610 AM) will go dark for all of two weeks, returning the Monday after the Super Bowl and continuing weekdays from 6 to 7 p.m. until training camp next summer.
Marc Vandermeer, John Harris and the rest of the Texans media staff will handle the bulk of the radio work, but radio analyst Andre Ware will keep an eye on things as well.
“Everything revolves around the quarterback,” Ware said. “You can get better in the offensive line in terms of protecting and in terms of the running game, but after you do those things, you have to have a guy you can count on from week to week who can make plays if you want to win games because of the quarterback and not in spite of him.
“There are tough decisions to be made. There will be lots of evaluating, but we will have an answer next year.”
Meanwhile, turning to his other job as a college analyst for ESPN, Ware shakes his head at the plight of the 12 FBS teams in Texas. Only Baylor won a bowl game and none of the teams finished in the Top 25.
“They’re underachieving,” Ware said. “It’s disappointing in the grand scheme, being a former Texas high school player. At least if your school isn’t in the running, you want to see others do well, and that’s not happening.”
New co-host for Salisbury show
Denver sportscaster Robin Carlin will succeed Steve Bunin as co-host of SB Nation Radio’s show featuring former NFL quarterback Sean Salisbury.
The show, which will be retitled with Salisbury’s name, will premiere Monday, Jan. 30, and air from 8-11 a.m. during Super Bowl week before assuming its regular 3-7 p.m. slot Feb. 6 on SB Nation Radio and, in Houston, on KGOW (1560 AM).
Carlin worked for the Denver Post’s DPTV channel and also worked with Mile High Sports Magazine and Altitude in Denver. A graduate of the University of Mississippi, she will become the first woman in some time to host a regularly scheduled sports show on Houston radio.
Brian Barrett, who joined SB Nation Radio in 203, also will be part of the Salisbury show’s cast. Salisbury also will continue to co-host a local show with John Granato on Gow Media’s KFNC (97.5 FM).
Four DVRs, no waiting
The inaugural Bob Allen Open, named for the late Houston sportscaster and benefiting the Sunshine Kids Foundation, will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, at TopGolf in Spring. Tickets are $150 each ($100 for nonplayers) and available at sunshinekids. org/boballenopen. For sponsorship information, call Cheryl Nelson at 281 382-0378. … NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Kansas City began Thursday and continues on NBC Sports Network and Universal HD leading into the pairs free skate and free dance at 2 p.m. Saturday, the ladies free skate at 7 p.m. Saturday and the men’s free skate at 3 p.m. Sunday, all on NBC and KPRC (Channel 2). Terry Gannon calls the events with Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir. … Assorted media outlets report that Mike Greenberg will leave his ESPN Radio show with Mike Golic to host a morning show that would fill some of the airspace now held by “SportsCenter.” Trey Wingo, the Baylor University alumnus who hosts “NFL Live,” has been reported as a potential successor, and there’s no word on whether Mike Golic would say on the morning drive show or move to another program. … New to the media world is DeerHunter.TV, a partnership of Deer & Deer Hunting and media company Sportsrocket. The outdoors channel is available on desktop, mobile devices and social media sites and will be available via Roku, Apple TV and similar devices. … “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO will include segments on Kevin Turner, the lead plaintiff in the NFL concussions lawsuit, who died last year of ALS at age 46, and on Ravens lineman John Urschel, a doctoral candidate in mathematics at MIT. … British broadcaster Kate Abdo, late of German DW-TV, Sky Deutschland, CNN and Sky Sports, will join Fox Sports as a soccer studio host. … CBS Sports Network on Feb. 11 will premiere “The Black 14: Wyoming Football 1969” on 14 African-American players who were dismissed from the team during college football’s centennial year of 1969 when they sought to wear black armbands to protest the LDS church’s stance on African-Americans before a game against BYU. David Barron is a Houston Chronicle staff writer.