NFL preseason color commentators are kind of like minor league baseball players. There are one or two standouts that will make it to the pros and a few serviceable hands. The majority, however, are hopeless. They aren’t getting called up to the show, nor should they. It is just bad television.
The Denver Broncos home matchup against the Dallas Cowboys was a perfect example of this. The NFL preseason color commentators for this game were Chad Brown and Ryan Harris, two former NFL players and local homers. Their performance was diabolical.
That is kind of amazing considering Steve Levy is the play-by-play guy for Denver preseason games. He is one of the best in the business but was unable to save these two hacks during the broadcast. They were so bad as analysts that I couldn’t even make it past the first quarter and I’ll watch almost anything sports related. Here are the highlights.
1) Don’t know the Dallas Cowboys players
NFL preseason color commentators almost always shoot themselves in the foot by not doing any research and Denver’s duo of Brown and Harris were no different. As the Dallas Cowboys offensive starters were being shown, there was a long period of silence followed by someone saying, “this is a Denver Broncos broadcast so we won’t be spending time talking about them.”
Unbelievable. You should at least be able to provide some insights on the guys playing for the other team. We’re not asking for full breakdowns, but there should be something to say. It is even more ridiculous than that because Brown and Harris attended joint practices during the week and saw both teams in action. How is it you learned nothing about the Cowboys after watching them for multiple days?
2) Pass interference
Early in the game, there was a questionable pass interference non-call. It was a 50/50 play, and the Broncos player clearly had his hands on the wide receiver. The only person who didn’t see this was Brown who not only lauded the defender but also said he did a good job of not touching the pass catcher…as video was playing of the defensive back with his hands on the offensive player.
3) Kendall Hinton not a rookie
Another play saw Kendall Hinton drop a pass that was thrown at his feet. Harris proceeded to lecture him for taking his eye off the ball, saying that was a rookie mistake. He went on for an additional 30 seconds about how this rookie would learn to do better in the future. Of course, Hinton is no rookie. In fact, he even started a game at quarterback for Denver in 2020–something they talked about ad nauseam moments later. So, why the hell were you calling him a rookie?
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NFL preseason color commentators are bad
Look, these three examples are the tip of the iceberg. Harris and Brown spent the entire first quarter embarrassing themselves. Levy would leave five seconds of dead air after they said something stupid before moving on to another topic. An eloquent solution to terrible NFL preseason color commentators.
