So, first let me know how you got into video production and NFL clock management?
I got started in 2005 when I took an intern position with the Steelers. As time went on the video production work across the NFL got bigger. I stayed on with the Steelers as a seasonal employee – all of us were considered seasonal – but the work grew into the offseason as well.
I worked on the television and internet content for the Steelers and that continued to grow. Then Bob McCartney, who was the head of video production, asked if I wanted to work on the other side of video – on football operations. I said yes, but I had on idea what I was doing. But I learned that job for a few yeas. It’s much more raw – you only shoot a couple of angles and it’s all very quick – you’re looking at film and getting cut-ups quickly to the coaches during games.
How did that change of work go for you?
The trick was to get the sound and film in without disrupting the private conversations of the coaches and players. Once they felt comfortable with you you could hold the boom mic overt them and later edit out any conversations and information that was more private and confidential.
I also did the binders for them. Every play, you’d take 10-15 pictures – one before the huddle, one during, one after…so we’d use about five of those for every play and create the playbooks for the coaches.
But then you got into game clock management…
I was approached by my old boss to go back to the production and entertainment side of the organization. I didn’t know what they wanted me to do at first, but then he told me it was for the in-game clock management. I had no idea what I was getting into. I was nervous about it, but he basically told me it was just mental math. You just have to get the information up on the board quickly.
I said yeah, and I practiced at home watching games on tv. You have to get the down and distance right and up fast, the timeouts left, clock…it’s the whole scoreboard really. It’s a lot of just getting used to the board. It’s intense. You do it during the preseason and it’s a taste of what it’s like but it’s not reality. It’s slower and less pressure. You can tell by the fourth quarter everyone just wants it to get to the end an go home.
But the regular games are high intensity.
How does that process work?
You get there four-to-five hours ahead of time and go to production meetings first. There they are just making sure everyone is on the same page. We all wear headsets to communicate if there are technical or other issues and we test those. At the meeting we mostly go over what the experience will be for fans on the Jumbotron – what goes up there and when. Then we get a meal and wait for the game.
We’re required to do a 90-minute countdown before the game so players and coaches know when to get on the field for practices. Teams typically meet 60 minutes before the game and practice 30 minutes beforehand and they go by the stadium clock, so they need that time to be exact.
Once the game starts I have two guys besides me form the NFL. One is the time clock and game clock monitor – they let me know if the ref wants to take the clock down to zero to start the game, etc. They monitor the refs and what I am doing. The NFL and coaches want the down and distance up within two seconds of the play ending – which is hard especially when it’s up-tempo or no-huddle offenses. I have a spotter which just started the past two-to-three years – they help if it’s a difficult angle to see the ball and for penalties when it’s hard to tell where they are spotting the ball.
So a lot of monitoring?
It is. Everything has to be up in two seconds – teams slate their plays off of down and distance and they go off of the scoreboard. It’s essential the scoreboard be right for calls and for time-stamping plays. When the coaches want a quick look at what plays happened during the game – say that play they ran with two minutes left – they need that time stamp to find that film quickly to look at.
Do you get feedback?
I get feedback sometimes- an email that will tell me or ask me without saying who had the concern that I was slow here or there or missed something. You can get upset about those or take it as constructive criticism. If you want to be the best at what you do you take it constructively. It’s also nice when they notice you doing a good job. You think you go unnoticed so it’s nice to know the work you do gets noticed and not just by the 65,000 fans!
What makes it the hardest for you?
There are lots of resets in a game. And at the end of a game for coaches every second often counts to them. Even if I think I’m right the refs may defer to the coaches and we’ll reset the clock to be sure. Watching from this standpoint – I know fans see a lot of bad calls and think sometimes things are unfair. But from this standpoint it all balances out. I definitely see that, pulling away from the emotional side.
Any fun stories you can tell?
During every game I have a lot of friends who text me whenever they hear a request for the clock to be reset asking what I did wrong. I get five or six every time! Well, we have subs sometimes who help when we can’t work, and I had one sub for me one day. He was evidently slow on the game clock, and finally a ref announced during the game “Will the clock operator please pay attention and reset the clock!”
It was insane – I got texts from everyone. It made the news even so I had people asking – friends and family – what happened. They were asking if it was me and I had to tell everyone it wasn’t me!
What do you say to people who say games aren’t being handled fairly sometimes?
It’s highly intense. There are a lot of NFL evaluators sitting there – these games are so heavily monitored. There are people there monitoring me making sure nothing is crazy and one that just monitors the refs -sits there and takes notes on them all game.
And you are actually not a direct employee of the Steelers now correct – for fairness sake?
Right – I’m an employee of PSSI -the stadium. I have to be neutral. Of course I know Kevin Colbert and those guys from having worked there. Kevin always thinks it’s hilarious that I do this job. I also do WPIAL games – from morning to night. I’ve done hockey games, US Women’s Soccer, European friendlies – the variety is very cool. Basically anything run through Heinz Field. Soccer is the easiest – you just hit the button and wait for a score! There are few stoppages in soccer. It’s been an amazing experience getting to do soccer game for some of these well-known teams. I was never a huge fan of soccer but being a part of those matches was awesome.
Any good interactions with players and coaches?
On the video editing more. It was a different way of getting to know people in the organization. Like Coach Tomlin – he was always politically correct. Super nice and caring about his players though. Danny Smith – he was always so intense on the field – with his gum-chewing. But he was the same way off the field too. Even just talking about how things were in your life and that kind of stuff.
It’s funny-around them the last thing you end up doing is talking about football. We did have fun shooting pranks on players.
Tell me about those?
My two favorite ones – the first was when they filled Terrence Garvin’s car up with popcorn – through the sun roof! During practice they had a guy go and get his keys – they told him his car was parked illegally and would be towed. They parked it in the lot that the cafeteria overlooked. After the players got dressed and went to the cafeteria someone pointed it out from the cafeteria and everyone looked. He had to take it somewhere to get the popcorn sucked out of the car – there was no way to get it all out!
Also, in the training room they rigged the Gatorade cooler so that when you pulled it open it sounded like firecrackers. Everyone in the training room knew but watching some of the guys jump was funny.
It’s an intense game. Those little things made the Steelers very different from most teams – it loosened things up. I had a brief stint with the Bengals – let’s just say the environment there wasn’t for me. I had friends who left and worked with the Ravens too and they felt the same way and wanted to come back.
The locker room and general environment of the Steelers is just very different than most organizations – especially in terms of operations. It’s so much more family-based than other organizations. A lot different than Cincinnati and Baltimore. The players are more friendly – there just aren’t any levels between players and staff. We’re all on the same level when you talk. I know it sounds cliche’, but it really does make you feel better about what you are doing.
Any of those guy stand out to you most?
The offensive line guys like Pouncey and Foster and Gilbert – and Ike, They were awesome. I’m just a normal human being but when they see you in public they come up and say hi. Not that I wanted to be recognized as much as just the way they treat you.
A good side story on that. I went to a game with my buddy at Slippery Rock – it was a high school playoff basketball game. North Catholic was playing – that’s where Kevin Colbert went. I saw him sitting across the way. Then Coach Tomlin comes in and I say “Hi Coach T! What are you doing here” He stopped and we talked for a while. When he went to sit with Colbert I looked around and people were looking at me like I was the biggest guy in the world.
That’s the thing. They treat you like family. I’m not sure that happens anywhere else.
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