FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 29th, 2014

TIM HOWARD CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT

Pierre Moossa: Good Afternoon everybody, I just wanted to say that we’re thrilled to have Tim join our Premier League announce team. As an active player and one of the top goalkeepers in the Barclays Premier League, he adds such a unique perspective to our broadcasts. We look forward to hearing his insight and commentary throughout this coming season.

Dan Masonson: Thanks, Pierre. A special guest on this call is one of Tim’s broadcast partners throughout most of the season for us last year, Arlo White, who is our lead play-by-play announcer. A quick comment from you Arlo?

Arlo White: Hi everybody. I’m delighted to talk to you all. This is our biggest signing of the Premier League off-season in the transfer window. Tim was fantastic to work with last season – just being there alongside him on a journey for the first game that we did together in Chelsea in October to the end of the season, the progress he made was absolutely excellent. Then, of course, what he achieved at the World Cup in particular against Belgium is remarkable. We are very, very, lucky to have Time on board.

Dan Masonson: Thanks Arlo, before we take questions, an opening comment from Tim.

Tim Howard: Good afternoon everyone. To say that I am delighted to be a part of the NBC team full-time would be an understatement. I’m thrilled to continue the journey that I started last year, and am looking forward to this new season. As you know, you never know what to expect when the Barclays Premier League opens so I am excited on a couple of fronts – not only as a player but to continue to learn and improve and try and master this thing we call television. I am excited, so looking forward to today’s call.

Dan Masonson: Thanks Tim, and let’s open it up to questions please.

Is broadcast something you see as a very real option for after your playing career is over? My second question is after the World Cup you surely needed some time to think about the long-term future, have you come to any more conclusions about that since Brazil?

Tim Howard: Well the first part of the question, I didn’t know if television commentary was something that I wanted to do. I thought maybe I would dabble in it – I think it seems like the obvious thing to do. But I realized how difficult it was doing seven or eight games last year and I really enjoyed them. That is an understatement as well. I got nervous when I was in the games, I was wanting to learn all of the time. I was trying to absorb as much information as I could, and that spoke volumes to me because there wasn’t a lot of things that I felt that passionate about. It’s still in its infancy but yes, certainly where I am at the moment, if I could do this after I’d been playing certainly that would be something I would enjoy.

The next part of the question is very difficult. I am a little bit closer to making a decision, but not much. I still have to have some long, hard conversations with a few different people that I have not quite had yet. I will let you know when that happens.

Landon Donovan said that TV was much harder than he expected – have you guys talked much about you guys can be better world-class TV soccer commentators together?

Tim Howard: We haven’t spoken about that, but I would certainly agree with his assessment. On the surface it seems so easy, and then you get in the booth and your knees start to tremble and you’re not really sure why. But it is very, very, very difficult and it takes such skill. I’ve been lucky to have a producer like Pierre Moosa and a broadcast buddy in Arlo White. They made my learning curve, which I am still on, much, much easier. Because as a player, you know that game but being able to apply that and do it in the right way is very, very hard.

What do you think are the key components of being a good analyst? Do you have any memories from childhood of hearing any special commentary moments that stuck in your mind?

Tim Howard: Only when the Giants won the Super Bowl a couple of time when I was a kid. No soccer memories because we’ve come a long way in the last 20 years, I didn’t watch soccer on television as a kid on that level. As a player, you know the game, and if you get to a level that I am at, Premier League and National Team, you’ve almost in a sense mastered the game, at least in knowledge of the game. But, applying that in the broadcast booth, simplifying it yet trying to give as much information as quickly and concisely as you can, is a challenge. Certainly I am nowhere near perfect yet, and that’s obvious. When you get to the top level, that’s where you need to be.

Tim – how do you keep yourself unbiased? For example, when you are co-commentating a Liverpool game, or a game featuring one of your rivals.

Tim Howard: I think I was taught early on to call what I see, and that part becomes fairly simple to me. One team is attacking and the other is defending and you typically call the players you see, whereas I have an advantage, because I have inside information. I know what players like to do because I see that every day – I play against these guys, so I know their tendencies. That’s where I try and use that to my advantage. But, in terms of being unbiased, that part is simple. I was taught from day one, be honest and call exactly what I see, and that part seems pretty simple to me.

Pierre, is Tim only going to work Premier League matches, or is that for MLS matches, etc.?

Pierre Moossa: It will definitely only be Premier League matches. The number one focused for us is making sure we don’t interfere with Tim’s day job. It’s not realistic to have him flying cross-country, so, we try to keep it around his regular Premier League work schedule and try not to interfere with his work preparations. It will only be Premier League matches he’ll be involved with.

From your first few games that you broadcasted last year, what was the best piece of constructive criticism that you received either from Arlo, another broadcast partner, or maybe Pierre? The other question I have, is it better that you have a coach like Roberto Martinez was has had a lot of broadcasting work himself to back you and allow you to do this, whereas some other coaches may think you should focus on the game at hand?

Tim Howard: I get so much constructive criticism from Arlo and Pierre, I think that it part of the learning process. With Pierre, it was balance because we would review games and we would talk about what needed to be better and how I could make it better. With Arlo, it was more on-the-job training. Getting up in the gantry and seeing how things work and showing me little pointers about how he does things before the game and within the game. Different phrases to use, and not use, is certainly key information when you talk about television. The list of constructive criticism going on and on, but, the balance I was able to get with both Pierre and Arlo is still very important to me.

Last season when you knew you would be doing a game, how did you prepare your schedule for broadcasting that game and also fitting in your regular training? How will it change this time around in how you balance things?

Tim Howard: I think I got the balance right and to be honest my schedule is eat, train, sleep and try to recover. I spend a lot of time in my home in Manchester, feet up on the coach or in bed, just resting because that’s my job. So, it was actually welcomed, all of the information and statistics and game prep kind of filled up the time that I would normally be watching DVDs or something. So that was good, and Pierre is very, very conscious about making sure my day job, which is Everton Football Club, is paramount, first and foremost. I think we got that right. If you look at Everton’s results prior to myself doing a broadcast, you could say that the balance was good.

I usually prepare Tuesday or Wednesday, and I get all of my notes together and all of my relevant pieces – game statistics, up until about Thursday or Friday, and then I put it to bed and I focus solely on the opponent. To be honest, at Everton, we don’t really focus too much on the opponent throughout the week. Thursday or Friday we start to look at Arsenal, Leicester City, Manchester, whoever it is,  and then Saturday is game day, and whenever that finishes, I have another 24 hours or so to finalize my game prep for commentary.

Obviously, you’re not going to be calling games when Everton is playing, but I did get the impression that you’ll be calling the more high profile games, and that means the bigger clubs. I wanted to get your thoughts on your time at Manchester United and then your time at Everton, and how you’ve been a player at both of those clubs and your insights into those clubs, the two Manchester teams and Liverpool as well.

Tim Howard: Like I said, I’ve been around the league for over a decade now, this is my 12th season, and I know the players inside and out, the stadiums inside and out, the teams, the coaches. So again, I’m fortunate and when it comes to the big clashes at the top of the table, your traditional Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool, those are the fun games to call. Those are the easy games, because the football just takes care of itself, it’s majestic. You have the best players on show, big games and nerves, so I can try and talk to what it’s like being in the tunnel before you come out. You’ve maybe played a relegation battle team the week before and then you have to get up for this top of the table clash this week. Those are all insights that I have that I try to apply. In terms of being at Manchester United, yes, there’s a lot of it that I can speak to. Clearly after that last 12, 18 months, there has been a lot of change and turnover, but there is a certain mystique and aura about that club that I have insight into.

You said that you live in Manchester – how many years have you lived in that city?

Tim Howard: Since the day I stepped foot in England, so 2003, I landed and got a house, and that’s where I’ve been.

Dan Masonson: Thanks everyone for joining us and thanks to Tim, Arlo, and Pierre. We look forward to seeing everyone when the Premier League kicks off August 16th.