NFL Week 5: Tom Hammond

This week's announcer in focus is Tom Hammond of NBC!

Tom is a native Kentuckian, and graduated college with a degree in Animal science, not broadcasting. He got his start in broadcasting at the 1984 Breeders' Cup - the first one! - and was brought on by NBC as a specialist alongside the main host - Dick Enberg. Hammond was apparently so impressive in his debut that NBC Sports signed him to be a part of the staff.

Here's the clip of the coverage - go to the 16:00 mark where Enberg doesn't even know his name; Hammond corrects him and then flawlessly predicts the winner. Grey horses are never supposed to win - but Hammond picked her!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ma-_Jjdinc


(sorry- got distracted watching that clip - Pete Axhelm and Jack Klugman talking horse racing at the 11:00 mark)....

Tom began doing more and more sports for NBC in the mid- and late-80s; he was part of the NBC Olympics broadcasting team in 1992 where he did track and field. Can't find a seminal moment from the track at those Olympics; his color analyst for track and field that year was....you guessed it, OJ. The last Olympics OJ did as a broadcaster.

Tom continues to do Olympic broadcasting today; he is now involved with the Winter Olympics as well and is the exact definition of a "third wheel" during figure skating coverage. He is the straight, play-by-play man in figure skating in the booth with Tara and Johnny. I'm not sure if he is proud or bewildered to be with these two.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of7CGdZ50JY

As many of you know, NBC had the AFC football broadcasts up until 1999. NBC put Hammond in as one of the rotating play by play guys usually doing the #4 or #5 game for NBC. He was paired with an up and coming young color guy from the Midwest - a receiver that, to me, seemed to talk too much. Cris Collinsworth. Hammond did a playoff game for NBC as recently as 2010.


NBC got the Notre Dame contract in the 90s, where it was the sole broadcaster for all Notre Dame home games, and quickly became recognized as the voice of the Irish. I guess the most famous moment in that package is a game in 2005 vs. USC. We all know the final play of the game....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz8rBlhSxeg

Now, to the Browns.....in 1993, we in Cleveland were starting to realize that maybe this Belichick guy could coach - a bit. Resurrecting a team with zero talent and old in 1990, Bill went 6-10, 6-10 in his first two years (note: we would give a coach a parade now for 12 wins in 2 seasons) and the team looked better going into '93. We had a 4 pm home start against the Steelers in October (remember those? East Coast games actually starting at 4 pm????)....and Tom was on the call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZANnuzSFdag

You better watch the whole clip.....

I tried to put our answering machine up to our recording of the game to have Hammond's call of the 2nd punt return be our outgoing message on the machine in our apartment. That technology transfer didn't work so well as Hammond's voice did not come through on the machine.

Note: I think I still have 3 Metcalf jerseys somewhere in the basement.

When will we have excitement like that again in Cleveland????

On to the games:

Buf 23, Cin 20. Can we really trust Buffalo? They still have very little passing game. Can we trust the Bengals after looking good vs. the Browns?

Det 27, Car 20.  I think Detroit's defense is underrated and their D will stop Carolina enough. Detroit should score enough at home.

Ind 30, SF 20.  I like what I see out of Brissett over the past 2 weeks. This game is at home; he's comfortable, and he does have some weapons at receiver. Can Indy's D do enough?

Mia 27, Ten 19. The true home opener for the Dolphins; I think Cutler and Miami will do enough against a bad pass D for the Titans. And Mia's run D is good; so Ten has to pass with Cassel. Not a great strategy.

LAC 31, NYG 26. This should be a shootout with 2 teams that love to pass. And the Chargers getting out of LA should help them.

Phi 26, Az 20. I just don't see how Arizona puts up enough points here. Their D may keep them in the game - but can they actually move the ball with no running game?

Pit 24, Jax 13. Still not 100% that Pit's O is back to where it was last year. I'd love to see the Jags upset here, but can't trust them on the road.

LAR 23, Sea 20. On paper, this could be a Rams blowout; however, I have to believe that Carroll will be into his bag of tricks as he desperately needs to win this game. The coaching matchup will make this a close game.

Bal 20, Oak 17. All right, trusting the Ravens' D on this one. Not sure how Manuel and the Raiders will move the ball against the #1 D. Can Flacco find some holes in the Raiders' D? I think so.

Dal 30, GB 24.  Love this spot for the Cowboys. Coming off a loss and they are desperate, facing an injured Packers team at home. Dallas just needs to contain Rodgers and they should win.

KC 23, Hou 17. Will never bet against KC ever, ever again after Monday night. Watson can't play as well as he did last week. Can he?

Min 27, Chi 17. Although there is a good chance that us Cleveland fans will see another star QB born for another team on MNF....

Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 8-6; overall: 33-25
Det -2.5
Ind -2
SF/Ind over 44.5
Mia +1
LAC +3
LAC/NYG over 45
Pit -7.5
Jax/Pit under 43
Sea/LAR under 47.5
Bal +3
Dal -3
KC -1
KC/Hou under 45
Min -2.5

Supercontest picks: Last week: 2-3 (with an asterisk); overall: 12-8
Det -2.5
Ind -1.5
Mia +3
Bal +2.5
Dal -2