Scott Hanson is in his sixth year as a reporter and host for NFL Network. But he is best known as the host of the addictive NFL RedZone channel, which whips from game to game on Sunday afternoons, excising the 1-yard runs and tedious timeouts and focusing only on the most jaw-dropping plays and touchdowns.
Hanson, whose high-energy delivery is a perfect match for the snippets of action, said he had had only one cup of coffee in his life. A four-year walk-on at Syracuse, he earned scout-team player-of-the-year honors in 1992. RedZone broadcasts from Los Angeles, but Hanson was in New York recently to host an N.F.L. event for advertisers and, presumably, to limber up his vocal cords for the season.
You’re on all afternoon amid continuous action. When do you go to the bathroom?
That’s the No. 1 question in my life. Once or never in seven hours. Either one two-minute break or none at all. I’m like a kindergartner. I have to raise my hand and ask my producer, “Can you find me a spot to go to the bathroom in the next drive?” I’m asking permission and I’m a 40-year-old man. I can hear the games on my earpiece, so I’m going down the hallway and I have a path carved out for me to get to the bathroom, and I’m literally thinking: “No touchdown. No touchdown.”
You have to know all the players’ names instantly. How do you memorize them?
I’ve locked myself in hotel rooms on a Saturday and I go through every bit of information I can find on any story line. I’m in a hotel in Los Angeles a block from the beach and I’m sitting there thinking, “I’ve got to focus.” I would love to say I have everyone’s name memorized, but I don’t. I have a spotter and a researcher sitting in my studio two feet from me. “Who’s 35 for the Bengals?” and they can get it to me. If I’m doing a play live, I’m flying solo. I hope it’s all stars touching the football with monosyllabic names, preferably. “Dallas Clark with the catch!”
How do you rehearse?
I would assume it’s like being in a rehearsal for a jazz band. You can go into the studio saying this person on piano, this on sax, we’ll play for X number of hours. But when it actually starts, you don’t know what the music will lead to. That’s part of the thrill of it.
What were you thinking when the N.F.L. approached you about this idea?
They had me do an audition to be named the host. And the rehearsal was, I want to say, four hours long. Me and a producer in my ear. I’m watching a wall of monitors. The longest show I had done in my broadcasting career — 15, 20 years — was maybe two or three hours. I remember thinking this is heavy lifting. You work on fear, like I hope I don’t embarrass myself. I’m a dreamer. I knew it would be huge. The first thing I said on the air was, “You are watching the channel that we hope will change the way you watch football forever.” That’s hyperbole, but I meant it.
Have you ever lost your voice?
I have a stage manager. She gives me one bottle of water. I’m allowed to sip it. She says, “No chugging.” She knows I’ll have to go to the bathroom. I haven’t lost my voice, but I am exhausted at the end.
Get any feedback from players?
When a player is on a bye week or playing Monday night, at Sunday at 1 o’clock they’re watching the games. Occasionally, people will tweet. We’re going to do a new thing this year. If there’s a pro player with a verified Twitter account and he wants to tweet something he sees in another game, we’ll incorporate those tweets live.
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