Unprecedented access behind the scenes with NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota from the 2022 season has made the Netflix special Quarterback the talk of the summer within the sports world ahead of the start of training camp.
The eight-episode series, which premiered on July 12, gives fans access to the lives of Mahomes, Cousins and Mariota with the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons on and off the field, in a deeper dive than shows like Hard Knocks on HBO and All or Nothing on Amazon Prime have given football fans in the past.
This time, it’s with the faces of franchises, too.
Based on the attention the show is generating ahead of the start of the 2023 season and the positive publicity it’s giving to the likes of Mahomes, Cousins and Mariota, second-year Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett certainly sounds a bit intrigued by the show overall.
Appearing on the Green Light Podcast with former NFL defensive end Chris Long earlier in the week, Pickett said he’d need more details about the access provided and the amount of time the cameras take up in the day-to-day life of the quarterback before even thinking about agreeing to do the show, but added that he is certainly intrigued by it.
“I honestly don’t know. I think it’d be really cool like when you’re retired or something, you have kids and you know, you could put that on and be like, this is what I did. This was my job, this is what went into it. But man, the having cameras around you 24/7, that would be the only thing, where you can kind of just be yourself. I don’t care what anyone says, if you see a camera around you’re kind of guarded. You’re not gonna be your true self,” Pickett said to Long, according to video via the Green Light Podcast YouTube page. “I don’t know; I’m not too sure [if I’d do it]. I’m not too sure. I mean, I would just talk to Peyton [Manning] and just be kind of be like ‘what would you do? How would you handle it?’
“I don’t know how much, I don’t know if it was 24/7 or if they’re like, ‘hey, we’re here for an hour or two a day’ or I don’t know how the filming went, but I would definitely need to get the details on that before saying yeah, it’s just cause of how much goes in it, how long a season is and yeah, the ups and downs and the things that you know for sure that go on.”
Based on the show’s premiere, there’s quite a bit of filming that went into it as the Netflix and Omaha Productions cameras followed Mahomes, Cousins and Mariota around all season long, interviewing coaches, teammates, their wives, family members and even the players themselves throughout the 2022 season, putting together a chronological timeline of the season while getting the players’ insights and a behind-the-scenes look.
It’s great television overall, but it’s a huge time commitment, at least from the outside looking in. For quarterbacks, especially young ones like Pickett, that might not be the best thing for him right now. That said, Mahomes put that talk to bed quickly, winning the Super Bowl this past season with the cameras following him around.
He was able to focus on football, be prepared and play at an MVP level.
It is ironic though that Pickett mentions asking Peyton Manning, his mentor, what he would do in this situation. Manning, of course, oversees Omaha Productions and was the executive producer on Quarterback so he probably would push Pickett to do the show, if asked.
Count me in as one that would want to see the cameras follow Pickett around day-to-day and give us, the viewers, unprecedented access into his day-to-day life, preparation on and off the field, and his personal life. It’s the entertainment industry, and Pickett is becoming a rather popular name.
We’ll see if the show was a one-off or follows other quarterbacks moving forward in the years to come. But it’s great television currently and there’s a real opportunity there for a young quarterback like Pickett to build his name and overall brand, should the opportunity arise.
