Saturdays have meant football for most of Joshua Perry’s life, first as a player and for the past half dozen years as a media member.
No matter the role, he remains a competitor.
That was the case at Ohio State (where he won a national championship) and with three NFL teams (Chargers, Colts, Seahawks) before he started hosting his own daily radio show, gained experience on the Big Ten Network and moved to NBC Sports.
Perry works as a studio analyst for NBC’s “B1G College Countdown,” which leads into the network’s Saturday night game — typically the conclusion of a series of conference games that kick off at noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
He’s comfortable being part of the group that wraps up the day. And he certainly enjoys watching all the games, as well as the other broadcasts.
“I feel like I’m hyper-aware, and part of it is this competition where I want our show to be great, and I want people to take notice of that,” Perry said. “You’re always seeing what other networks are doing, how they’re covering things, how they talk about teams.
“I’ve got respect for what they’re doing. At the same time, we all want our show to be the best.”
Perry, a linebacker at OSU, starts his broadcast season preparation in July, but admits it’s a year-round pursuit — much like when he was a player.
Especially in the past couple of years, with the changes in college football’s playoff format and on-field rules as well as the sport’s move to pay for play and widespread player movement with transfers, keeping up provides a challenge for media members. Even well-prepared former players.
All the challenges help ignite his competitive fires when compared to other broadcasters and networks.
“I know a lot of those guys now, and I’ve gotten to meet them personally, and it’s fun watching them do what they do, because I know how much fun they’re having, and I’m cheering for all of them to be successful,” Perry said. “But the reality is, we want to have a great show. To do that, you gotta have a measuring stick, you gotta know what’s going on elsewhere, and so, whether it’s because we’re watching a day of sports, or we’re just trying to get an edge on what other people are doing, we see it all.”
Perry, moved from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and daughter when he got the job with NBC. While Chicago was convenient for his BTN duties, Columbus offers a comfortable home. Each week during the season he travels to New York on Thursdays to go to NBC’s studios in Connecticut. Rundown meetings Friday set the stage for a full day on Saturday. It’s a lot of watching games to prep for work that night.
He said the routine feels like his schedule as a player and allows a comfort level that he hopes comes through on air.
It’s a big group at NBC, with four people on the main set, two more on side sets for breakout segments and three more analysts (including former Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson) on site at the network’s game of the week. All those people have something to say before the network’s top-notch broadcast team (Noah Eagle, former Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge, Kathryn Tappen) handle the game action.
In that situation, a competitor must make the most of any airtime he gets.
So far, Perry’s doing that well — thanks in part to his experiences as a player (handling a lot of media attention at Ohio State) and to a large support group.
That’s everyone from OSU’s legendary athletic director for communications (Jerry Emig) to media members who’ve covered. He also appreciates his colleagues and mentors at BTN and, of course, other Buckeyes in the national media — specifically Kirk Herbstreit and Joey Galloway.
“I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of good people. When I got to BTN, I was working with Dave Revsine, Howard Griffith and Jerry DiNardo,” he said. “They had been together since I was in middle school, when that network launched, and they brought me in, and they treated me as a peer.
“They were respectful, but they also had high standards, and they were honest with feedback. And I thought that was super valuable.”
Additionally, Perry says Herbstreit has offered pointers and Galloway has shared the importance of looking at his career from a business standpoint.
“I’m very thankful for the timing of when I met certain people through this journey, because all of them have been good from a mentorship standpoint. I’m 31 years old. I haven’t been doing this for a very long time, and I’m young,” he said. “I retired from the NFL early. I got into it young. I needed those people who had been around the block a few times to really breathe into me, and they did.”
If you’ve enjoyed this content, please subscribe to Stuff Somers Says With Steve on YouTube. Or join our newsletter by entering your email below.
