The Football Diner Big Interview:

Neil Reynolds
interviewed by Michael E Lawrence
14/9/2007
 
As Pro Football CVs in the UK go, you don’t get any more impressive than Neil Reynolds’s: Sky TV analyst, columnist, author, NFLUK Consultant, erstwhile star receiver with the Medway Mustangs in the halcyon days of the British American Football League in the 90s. You name it, Neil has done it: written extensively for First Down and Gridiron, launched the NFL Europe and NFLUK.com websites, interviewed superstars of the game like Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Chuck Bednarik, and Jeff Fisher, attended countless Super Bowls We could go on.
 
On the morning we’re scheduled to meet up with Neil, Football Diner is, frankly, tired. After catching nine hours of live NFL coverage in London’s Sports Caf, we’ve exited at 4am to find the official Diner car completely out of battery, because Richie has only gone and left the lights on. An emergency call and jump start later, we do at least get five hours or so of sleep.
 
But Neil Reynolds is, to say the very least, an affable and charming fellow. That the Diner boys have not so much bags but haversacks under their eyes goes either unnoticed or uncommented upon by Neil, who for the following hour speaks insightfully and warmly about the game all three of us at the table love.
 
Sat a stone’s throw away from the NFLUK office in Oxford St, London Town, Football Diner worked it’s hardest to the pick the brains of one of the most influential players in the UK Pro Football scene:

On how he got his start in football…
 
FD
Neil first of all, thanks for meeting up with us today do you get to do many of these interviews at all?
 
Neil
A few radio stations here and there in the United States when (bestselling book) Pain Gang was published and some Sky Sports News appearances here in the UK, but that was talking about players and coaches in the NFL. This is a first to be talking about myself.
 
FD
Excellent, another Football Diner exclusive! We’re going to go right back to the start if that’s alright, and ask how you interest / involvement in Football got started?
 
Neil
Well, I first started watching the game in ’83 and fell in love with Dan Marino, and I’ve endured decades of disappointment since as Dolphins fan. Then I approached First Down and Gridiron in 1991 and went and did some work experience with them up in Oxford, then soon after started writing features for Gridiron. I started working at First Down full time in 1997, and I was chief reporter there, doing all the features, player interviews that kind of thing. In 1991 I also started playing for the Medway Mustangs in the old Coca Cola league division two as a wide receiver and then, as I put on the pounds, I became a tight end!
 
On the closure of First Down and the rise of NFLEurope.com
 
FD
Are you sad to see First Down go?
 
Neil
I am: it’s something that’s been part of the football furniture, the guys cared about it so much, and Keith Webster put so much into it, it really was his baby. I used turn up on the Monday morning for work, and he’d still be sitting there having spent the whole of Sunday night in his office, with KFC buckets surrounding him. By mid Monday afternoon you’d hear a crash and it’d be his head hitting the keyboard. The guy just gave it everything, and it’s closure certainly wasn’t for the want of trying.
 
FD
Although you yourself had left First Down long before, moving onto NFL Europe?
 

Neil
Yeah, I worked full time for First Down from 1997 to 2000, and went on from there to serve as editor of NFLEurope.com.
 
FD
We read somewhere that you increased the site traffic for the site by 300 percent!
 
Neil
I wrote that that’s where I learned my PR skills as well! Never actually let the figures get in the way of a good story! But NFLEurope.com at that time was quite small, they didn’t have a specific person assigned to write for it, so we literally decided to load the site with more and more content, more stuff for people to read.
 
FD
And that’s why it got more traffic?
 
Neil
Yes, rather than just having the NFL press releases, I took it beyond that so that there were player features, stories, opinion it became more than just a league outlet. We tried to get as much fresh content on there as possible. We gave people more to read, and created better links with NFL.com, and gave people more to do when they got there rather than just finding official stuff.
 
On the demise of NFL Europe
 
FD
NFL Europe’s not with us any longer are you sad to see it go?
 
Neil
Yeah I am. I used to work with NFL Europe as a PR consultant and handled all the US media, so I was disappointed because it was a breeding ground for NFL players. There haven’t necessarily been high profile quarterbacks in recent years the last ones were Jake Delhomme in ’99, Brad Johnson in ’99, Kitna in ’97 but there were loads of offensive linemen that came through that league: Matt Lepsis and Ben Hamilton in Denver, Brian Waters in Kansas City you could go on and on.
 
FD
So what will those same type of players do now?
 
Neil
Well this is the thing, I was watching pre season games and looking at the third and fourth string quarterbacks, and I was thinking they’re going to have nowhere to go and hone their game skills. They’re basically going to be staying in their systems and having to prove themselves in minicamps, which is hard to do because everything’s run at three quarter speed and everything’s run in a controlled environment.
 
FD
Isn’t there another league popping up for these kinds of players somewhere is it run by (Dallas Mavericks owner) Mark Cuban?
 
Neil
Well there’s two he’s looking at starting one that plays on week nights in the fall, and there’s another one called the All American Football League which is kind of taking on an NFL Europe model with six teams. But the difference is they’re going to run it on college campuses and try and tap into the college fanbase. There’ll be teams in Michigan, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas. That’s gonna be a place for the free agents to go but, if you’re an NFL player and your team wants to keep hold of you, you can’t go anywhere because you haven’t got an official NFL partnership with these teams, so for some younger players it’s a bit of a blow to see it go.
 
On the genuine prospect of an NFL team in the UK within 10 years
 
FD
Moving on to NFLUK you do some consultancy work for them and you’re writing too tell us a bit about the organisation, what its vision is, what it hopes to achieve.
 
Neil

Primarily what I’m doing is feature writing and opinion writing for the website, presenting their online TV station, and acting as a Consultant from time to time. In terms of its vision, if you’d have asked 10 or 15 years ago would we have had a regular season game here in Britain, people would have thought you were mad , the guys in the white coats would have been waiting for you down the street. But we’ve got to that point, and the NFL wants to build on it, and now the key is trying to get one of those every year. When you sell out Wembley as quickly as it has done, you’re sending a message to the United States that the UK can support a franchise. And I think that’s no longer a ridiculous argument or a topic that’ll get laughed out of the NFL offices in New York. I think it’s something that’s being looked at seriously, and I think the UK has become a huge international player for the NFL it’s probably now the primary international market. You look at the new Sky deal, that was bigger than any TV deal the NFL has ever had outside the US.
 
FD
Moreso than Germany?
 
Neil
Miles bigger than Germany. Bigger than Canada and Mexico too. Germany was very much an NFL Europe market, and they’re in the mix for an NFL regular season game because they haven’t got NFL Europe anymore. But NFL Europe never really took off here in the UK because there’s such a knowledgeable fanbase, and fans saw it for what it was, as third stringers and free agents, but I don’t think Germany were ever as concerned about that, it was more about the stadium, the event, and the tailgating they didn’t really mind if it was a quarterback that wasn’t even on an NFL team. It’s often a misconception that Germany was the strongest part of Europe in terms of American Football, but in terms of business deals TV wise and now with the regular season games it’s the UK that’s the world leader, outside of America.
 
FD
We read that the NFL might be looking to get a team here within 10 years, is that realisitic?
 
Neil
Yeah, whenever these things have been reported, they’ve not been denied by the NFL. But it’s all stepping stones first they try and get a regular season game every year, then there’ve been reports about adding a 17th regular season game. If you do that, then you can have a four game package here in Wembley you’d essentially be able to buy a mini-season ticket for four games. If the NFL then finds it can sell out four games in a heartbeat, then you’ve only got to add another four and you’ve got a season’s worth for a team. These are exciting times and it’s exciting to be part of it, and to be writing about it too!
 
FD
Right. Can we have a job?
 
Neil
(Laughs. Looks at the table. Damn.)
 
On writing best-seller Pain Gang, on Dick Butkus’s phone manner, on blowing YA Tittle’s mind, and on talking to Joe Cool
 
FD
You’ve written a book called Pain Gang, and we’ve heard that you’ve already sold out of the first print run. Tell us about the book (and punters, it’s a corking read)
 
Neil

Pain Gang was an idea I had when I was about 18, and I was fascinated by the tough guys that had played in NFL history. It’s basically a look at the 50 toughest ever not judged in any order, but according to my opinion. It’s about different kinds of toughness from guys that were mentally tough like Joe Montana, guys who were physically tough and who could hand out a beating like Ronnie Lott, to guys who could take a beating too. There’s war heroes in there, guys that overcame cancer like Jack Pardee, the old Oilers coach. And as I say, the idea sat there for 16 years before I finally got to work on it, and when I sent some example chapters off to a couple of publishers in America, the first publisher I sent it to wanted it. I was blown away! And then the Hall of Fame set me up with a contacts list to die for: it was a who’s who of American Football.
 
FD
Right you’ve met some huge names haven’t you?
 
Neil
Loads I spoke with Joe Montana, some of the older guys like YA Tittle, Chuck Bednarik I interviewed Dick Butkus over the telephone
 
FD
Scary?
 
Neil
Yeah very scary! I called him up in LA, and it was breakfast time, and I told him what I was doing and what I wanted to do, and he said straightaway: ‘no, I don’t want to do it.’ He just growled down the phone at me and I was thinking, well, I’m not really going to argue with Dick Butkus even though he’s six thousand miles away, so I tried to play to his ego a little bit, and told him ‘this book’s about the toughest ever NFL players and I couldn’t write it without you being in there did you consider yourself tough?’ And he said ‘well I didn’t really consider myself tough’ and started opening up, and 45 minutes later we were still going!
 
FD
Who else did you speak to?
 
Neil
There was Brett Favre who’s a very humble guy and loves the game, you can tell that; Jeff Fisher to talk about Steve McNair; Sam Huff, the old Giants linebacker I rang him up and I couldn’t stop him talking, it was an hour and 15 minutes! He wanted me to call him back so we could chat again! Bob Brown, who played for Oakland and Philadelphia I left him a couple of messages and he actually ended up calling me. The stories some of the older guys had! and when they told me these stories I’d go and research what they’d said and they were often actually playing down their achievements, they weren’t embellishing anything. A lot of the older guys also told me I had the wrong accent to be writing about the NFL that I was British totally blew YA Tittle’s mind!
 
FD
And Joe Montana when you talk to him in real life is he ‘Joe Cool’? Is he a mellow guy?
 
Neil
He’s very, very down to earth, though he was obviously very competitive as a player and he’s had a bit of a bad rap recently for wanting to get paid to go to the Super Bowl MVP event according to reports, but I genuinely think he just has no interest in being in the media spotlight now he’s finished playing. It’s almost a given that NFL players go into the media and are available for media things. When you make yourself unavailable like he is 99% of the time, it’s almost like you become unpopular because of that. But that part of his life’s gone he’s finished, he’s running his vineyard and he just wants to hang out with his family in the Napa Valley, and he’s quite happy just to do that. I knew that going in, and I was very conscious I might not get an interview with him, but I knew his agent, and knew she had English family, and that was my way in! He was humble, informative and all the while I was thinking I was lucky not only to be speaking to one of the greatest ever, but to one of the greatest that doesn’t really give interviews.
 
FD
Any one person you spoke to in particular stand out?
 
Neil
Chuck Bednarik, he just made me laugh. Such a grumpy old git, he really is, and he thought I was Australian and I had to repeat every question three times, but the stories he told were amazing. He was one of those classic guys that felt he and his peers were tough but that players now aren’t you got the impression that here was a guy who couldn’t remember where he put his slippers that morning, but he can remember every other play from the 1960 championship game.
 
FD
Will there be another edition?
 
Neil
Well they’re doing a paperback edition right now, but to tell you the truth I could publish Pain Gang 2, there were that many big name players that were tough that we couldn’t include in that first list. It could be something to look out for!
 
On The Miami Dolphins versus the New York Giants, Wembley…
 
FD
Ok Neil, any predicitions for the big game in October?
 
Neil
Yes, both teams will need a win when they get here! I think the Giants are probably in slightly better shape but only slightly Miami showed some good things versus Washington in week 1; they couldn’t run the football, but Trent Green was solid, he hit four or five receivers right in the numbers and they dropped the passes. I think the Dolphins know where they want to go in terms of re-building, whereas the Giants won’t be re-building as long as Tom Coughlin’s there, because he’ll want to win now. Cam Cameron has time to have the team grow he’s cleaned house, there were 13 rookies on the Dolphins’ opening day roster, and 25 or 26 of the team weren’t there last year, so it’ll take time to build. I think the Dolphins are headed in the right direction, but I’m not sure we’re looking at two playoff teams in October. But it will be a great night!
 
On predictions for the NFL season
 
FD
Let’s talk about the NFL season in general any Super Bowl predictions for us?
 
Neil
I really like and I was saying this before they thumped the Jets! I really like the Patriots. They’re a team that’s got that chemistry and outstanding leadership in Bill Belichick. Even last year without all the off season additions they really pushed the Colts to the limit in the AFC Championship game and then you add Randy Moss who showed what he could do against the Jets after he didn’t even play in pre season! Wes Welker’s a huge addition too, I was sad to see him leave Miami as a Dolphins fan he’s perfect for their offense because you’ve got Moss and Donte Stallworth stretching the field, and Welker can just mop up underneath. I think they’ll go all the way, they’ll be the team to beat.
 
FD
And it looks like Sammy Morris might have a big role
 
Neil
Yeah, I liked Sammy when he was in Miami there’s nothing flashy about him but everything he does, he does well. He works between the tackles, he can catch the ball, and you only want him to take seven or eight carries from Laurence Maroney so as to give him a rest. He won’t be a gamebreaker but that’s not his role. There’s also Faulk catching passes out of the backfield and Ben Watson at tight end they’re loaded.
 
FD
And which NFC team will inevitably lose the Super Bowl?
 
Neil
I’d like to say, based on their offensive performance against the Giants, that it’ll be Dallas, but the Cowboys got killed on defense by big plays down the stretch, especially through the air. And against New York they gave up 300 yards and 4 touchdowns to Eli Manning! He’s no Peyton Manning So the NFC’s wide open Seattle will be challenging. They had a lot of players injured last year and then pushed the Bears to the limit in the NFC divisional round they came close to winning that.
 
FD
Not the Saints though they looked awful in week 1
 
Neil
No not the Saints, although that might have been more that the Colts looked so good. The AFC with New England, then Indianapolis, then San Diego you have to talk about those teams before any of the NFC teams get a mention. People have been talking about how Philadelphia were loading up this season, and then they went out and lose to Green Bay. I think McNabb may have come back too early he got injured in November that (ACL) injury can sometimes take a year before it’s fully right again. You saw that in Miami last year when they tried to rush Culpepper back and the mobility wasn’t there. The NFC I think is wide open, and the AFC is going to be home to some quality football.
 
FD
But not the Jets (this reporter’s team)?
 
Neil
No, not the Jets, I’m glad to say as a Dolphins fan.
 
On appearing as a regular analyst on Sky Sports this season
 
FD
Neil you’re going to be on Sky as a guest this year, when?
 
Neil
It’ll be pretty much every week on Monday nights.
 
FD
You’re going to be very tired
 
Neil
It’s ok I’ll be working from home on Tuesdays! For ‘work from home’ read ‘sleep in the bed’! But yeah it’s exciting I did three towards the end of last season on Sky after I’d gone onto the Channel 5 show to promote the book. The Channel 5 piece went down quite well and Sky then decided to give me a go! And with so many programmes to fill now they need plenty of studio guests!
 
FD
You’ve enjoyed working with Nick and Kev
 
Neil
They’re all a great bunch at Sky and the whole crew possesses an amazing dedication to the sport. If you’re going to be working until 5am every Monday morning, it helps if you love the sport and those guys truly do. I hope to be involved in the show for many years to come it’s great fun to watch the games and get paid to talk about them. I used to try to chat to my wife about the games on Sunday nights but she wouldn’t listen. It could still be that no one is listening but at least I’m getting paid to waffle on endlessly!
 
FD
I see. So would you be happy to wear a Football Diner t-shirt on TV?
 
Neil
Umm I tell you what, I’d wear a Football Diner tie if you want to get one made up!
 
On playing in the BAFL in the 1990s, nearly landing the Monarchs’ kicking job, and British players in the NFL now
 
FD
Have you got any stories from your days as a receiver? Did you score many touchdowns?
 
Neil
Ha! Well I was always good for about 30 catches and 3 or 4 touchdowns a year. My average was always around 7 or 8 yards and some of my teammates used to say that, given my height, if I caught the ball at the line of scrimmage and fell forwards, that would be about that much yardage, so I wasn’t exactly a downtown threat.
 
FD

Was it a 10 game season in those days because 30 catches a year in the UK is pretty good in a league that focuses more on rushing
 
Neil
I had pretty decent hands and I was a reliable receiver so I always played on teams that trusted me enough to throw me the ball. I always played with a pretty good quarterback he was actually named Dan Dart! he was very accurate and to the point (groan from Football Diner.)
 
FD
Was it a pretty serious team?
 
Neil
Oh yeah for us it was pretty serious the first year I played, in ’91 with the Medway Mustangs, we still had US imports come over, like our quarterback Pablo Ortiz. We used to play in front of 800 or 900 people and they all used to have to pay 4 a game, but he left in week 3 having fallen out with most of the team. The last time we saw him he was running off the field with our safety chasing him with the down marker. By all accounts Pablo was going home to get his gun, but he never came back!
 
FD
Any career highlights?
 
Neil
There’s two games I still fondly remember there was one in ’92 when I was playing for the Invicta Eagles against the Gravesend Lions, we won 66-0 and I scored 18 points. I returned a fumbled punt for a touchdown which I’m not sure was even legal I caught a touchdown pass, and I kicked six extra points, and the headline in First Down that day was: ‘Lions Neil before King Reynolds.’ My proudest moment! And then in ’99 I played for the Kent Exiles and I had 8 catches and scored 2 touchdowns we won the game 13-7, so I scored all the points!
 
FD
So you were a three way threat!
 
Neil
I also came pretty close to landing a job as kicker of the London Monarchs in 1996. During the tryouts at Crystal Palace it came down to me and Steve Belcher. We had a competition going five yards back at a time. We both landed our kicks from 50 yards, I missed from 55 and he made his from that distance. The rest, as they say, is history he was on the flight to training camp in Florida and I went back to covering Village Flower Shows for the Kent Today Newspaper.
 
FD
The world needs flowers Did you ever sustain any injuries?
 
Neil
I had a hairline fracture of my jaw one game I was still a bit green around the gills at that time and I was run blocking as a wide receiver, and I had a hand on the defensive back but was just watching the run inside. The whistle blew as I went back to the huddle the guy forearmed me under the face. The next thing I remember was waking up I got knocked out cold spitting blood out of my mouth, and all the guys were fighting above me! I’m lying on the floor with a fight going on over me and I’m thinking: please don’t fall on me I hobbled off to the sidelines licking my wounds, but most of my teammates spent the rest of the day singing ‘You Can Ring My Bell’. There wasn’t a lot of sympathy. It’s a clich, but I played just for the love of it, and I still have bad knees and a bad back and I get a bad neck from time to time but I’m sure there are plenty of ex-players like that.
 
FD
How do you think the standard of play compares between then and now in the BAFL?
 
Neil
I think teams are starting to take it more seriously again now. Look at teams at the top: the London Olympians have got 4 players in the NFL now Marvin Allen, on the Dolphins’ practice squad, Daniel Watts on the Bills’ practice squad, running back Jermaine Allen on the Bears’ practice squad, and Emmanuel Akah, an offensive lineman with the Chiefs practice squad. I think there’s still a huge amount of talent in the domestic game, and if players are given the right guidance and the right pathway, they could play professionally.
 
And finally, on the increase in interest in Pro Football in the UK
 
FD
Do you think there’s a need and an opportunity for a website like Football Diner in the UK football scene?
 
Neil
I do – what people want when they go onto the websites is some opinion, outside if just the general news stuff which you can get from the AP or NFL.com and that’s partly what happened to First Down, which was publishing stories 3 or 4 days old. People like to read a lot of opinion, and things that go around the game behind the scenes stuff say, or the opinions of people who’ve been around the NFL a long time. And this is the right time because interest is really on the upturn now. It’s a great time to be involved in the sport.
 
FD
Is NFLUK seeing an increase in members?
 
Neil
Yeah. I know when they first launched there were about 25,000 members, and they’re up to about 115,000 now in the space of two and a bit years. Last week they were getting new members signing up at the rate of about 250 to 300 a day! There’s obviously people gravitating towards the sport.
 
FD
That’s good to know! Well thanks very much indeed Neil, it’s been a pleasure, we’re looking forward to meeting up with you again to pick your brain some more
 
Neil
Gladly – cheers!
 
FD
And you were serious about not giving us a job right?
 
Neil
Yes.
 
FD
Damn.