T-post Tom
11-18-2019, 05:37 PM
https://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article237469709.html
ESPN’s Jay Rothman was the producer last year of the Chiefs’ “Monday Night Football” game in Denver, and he remembers one thing vividly.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ pregame throws.
“We have video of Patrick Mahomes,” Rothman said. “I never got it on the air because the game didn’t present itself. It was a great game and Patrick was playing his ass off, but he literally threw a ball 70-plus yards standing in the end zone at Mile High.”
Mahomes recalled this summer that he launched a ball 80 yards that night in Denver and thinks a 100-yard throw is not out of the question in the thin air of Mexico City, where the Chiefs will play the Chargers on Monday night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Where did this even land, <a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PatrickMahomes5</a>???<br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/KCTVDani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KCTVDani</a>)<a href="https://t.co/IhDnBEQtjr">pic.twitter.com/IhDnBEQtjr</a></p>— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1046898153541259264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rothman has no say in this, but he is encouraging Mahomes to go for the 100-yard throw at Azteca Stadium (Estadio Azteca), which is 7,280 feet above sea level. That’s 2,000 feet above Denver.
“I hope he chucks one,” Rothman said. “I hope he stands in the end zone in this stadium. I’m curious to see how far that ball can go. I know he sort of said he would do it. I’m hoping he does do it.”
Rothman paused.
“Andy (Reid, the Chiefs coach) might not want him doing that but that would be kind of cool to see,” Rothman added.
If Mahomes does test his arm strength, ESPN’s cameras will be there to record it. So Chiefs fans may find out if a 100-yard throw is possible.
Even if Mahomes doesn’t air it out during pregame throws, Rothman believes fans will see some cool things during the broadcast.
That starts with the atmosphere at the stadium.
“The fans in Mexico, they are passionate fans and they are knowledgeable fans,” he said. “And very, very much into the NFL. So the stadium will be packed, it’ll be colorful. It’s kind of like a World Cup crowd at an NFL game, because they know no other way. So there’s a lot of pageantry.”
There also will be some unique aspects of the game at Azteca Stadium for the players. This goes beyond the elevation of the field.
“It’s kind of like the locker rooms are structures built in the parking lot, and the parking lot is above the stadium,” Rothman said. “The Chiefs, their locker room literally is up in a parking lot. They open a door, they walk down two tunnels, they walk through the stands, through the crowd, across a moat and onto the field.”
Wait ... a moat?
“A moat,” Rothman said, “minus the water and alligators. But there is a moat.”
The distance from the locker rooms to the field will mean a longer halftime at Azteca Stadium, which has a capacity of 87,523.
“Halftime which is normally 12 minutes in the NFL is 19 minutes to account for the time it takes to get up there and the time it takes to get back,” Rothman said. “There’s oxygen tanks in the locker room from the climb up from the field, up to the top, so all of those things are different. There’s wire fence around the field from the soccer games so things are just different. And it’s just unique. But it’s really cool, it’s very different.”
One other difference from a normal Chargers game: Rothman said 40,000 Chargers fans had purchased tickets for what is supposed to be the team’s home game. No word on the number of tickets sold to Chiefs fans.
ESPN’s Jay Rothman was the producer last year of the Chiefs’ “Monday Night Football” game in Denver, and he remembers one thing vividly.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ pregame throws.
“We have video of Patrick Mahomes,” Rothman said. “I never got it on the air because the game didn’t present itself. It was a great game and Patrick was playing his ass off, but he literally threw a ball 70-plus yards standing in the end zone at Mile High.”
Mahomes recalled this summer that he launched a ball 80 yards that night in Denver and thinks a 100-yard throw is not out of the question in the thin air of Mexico City, where the Chiefs will play the Chargers on Monday night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Where did this even land, <a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PatrickMahomes5</a>???<br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/KCTVDani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KCTVDani</a>)<a href="https://t.co/IhDnBEQtjr">pic.twitter.com/IhDnBEQtjr</a></p>— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1046898153541259264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rothman has no say in this, but he is encouraging Mahomes to go for the 100-yard throw at Azteca Stadium (Estadio Azteca), which is 7,280 feet above sea level. That’s 2,000 feet above Denver.
“I hope he chucks one,” Rothman said. “I hope he stands in the end zone in this stadium. I’m curious to see how far that ball can go. I know he sort of said he would do it. I’m hoping he does do it.”
Rothman paused.
“Andy (Reid, the Chiefs coach) might not want him doing that but that would be kind of cool to see,” Rothman added.
If Mahomes does test his arm strength, ESPN’s cameras will be there to record it. So Chiefs fans may find out if a 100-yard throw is possible.
Even if Mahomes doesn’t air it out during pregame throws, Rothman believes fans will see some cool things during the broadcast.
That starts with the atmosphere at the stadium.
“The fans in Mexico, they are passionate fans and they are knowledgeable fans,” he said. “And very, very much into the NFL. So the stadium will be packed, it’ll be colorful. It’s kind of like a World Cup crowd at an NFL game, because they know no other way. So there’s a lot of pageantry.”
There also will be some unique aspects of the game at Azteca Stadium for the players. This goes beyond the elevation of the field.
“It’s kind of like the locker rooms are structures built in the parking lot, and the parking lot is above the stadium,” Rothman said. “The Chiefs, their locker room literally is up in a parking lot. They open a door, they walk down two tunnels, they walk through the stands, through the crowd, across a moat and onto the field.”
Wait ... a moat?
“A moat,” Rothman said, “minus the water and alligators. But there is a moat.”
The distance from the locker rooms to the field will mean a longer halftime at Azteca Stadium, which has a capacity of 87,523.
“Halftime which is normally 12 minutes in the NFL is 19 minutes to account for the time it takes to get up there and the time it takes to get back,” Rothman said. “There’s oxygen tanks in the locker room from the climb up from the field, up to the top, so all of those things are different. There’s wire fence around the field from the soccer games so things are just different. And it’s just unique. But it’s really cool, it’s very different.”
One other difference from a normal Chargers game: Rothman said 40,000 Chargers fans had purchased tickets for what is supposed to be the team’s home game. No word on the number of tickets sold to Chiefs fans.