Golf Channel Partners with NFL for BIG BREAK NFL
Story Highlights
Golf Channel teams up with the National Football League this fall for the network’s popular BIG BREAK reality competition series’ 20th season by featuring several of the NFL’s all-time greats playing alongside aspiring professional golfers. BIG BREAK NFL will premiere Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 9 p.m. ET and airs weekly on Tuesdays nights.
NFL legends competing on BIG BREAK NFL include Hall-of-Famers Jerry Rice and Chris Doleman, along with Tim Brown, Marc Bulger, Al Del Greco, and Mark Rypien. Filmed at Dorado Beach Resort in Puerto Rico, the series will feature each of the six NFL legends – all boasting single digit handicaps with several having competed in PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour events – joining two BIG BREAK competitors (one male and one female) to form three-person teams. On the line will be $50,000 to the winning NFL legend’s designated charity, along with 2014 PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour tournament exemptions, cash, and other prizes for the BIG BREAK competitors.
“I have been a fan of BIG BREAK for a long time, and I wanted to experience the pressure and excitement of competing on this series first-hand,” said Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice, who will be playing this week at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, airing on NBC. “The nerves we all faced on this show – knowing that everything potentially was on the line for your team with one golf shot – are experiences I will never forget.”
Golf Channel’s BIG BREAK show concept pits highly skilled golfers against each other in a variety of challenges that test their physical skills and mental toughness. During BIG BREAK NFL, teams will be subject to skills challenges from tee-to-green, including two of the series’ signature challenges, the popular “Glass Break” and “Flop Wall” challenges. The series also will feature special guest appearances from World Golf Hall-of-Fame member and Puerto Rico’s own Chi Chi Rodriguez and two-time Super Bowl winner and NBC’s Football Night in America analyst Rodney Harrison.
NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football sideline reporter and Emmy Award-winner Michele Tafoya also joins Golf Channel’s Tom Abbott to co-host BIG BREAK NFL. Tafoya, who has covered the NFL for more than 10 years, is entering her third season as a sideline reporter for NBC after seven years with ABC and ESPN as a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football.
“I’m thrilled to host BIG BREAK NFL and to watch these NFL legends bring their competitive team experiences from the football field to the golf course,” said Tafoya. “I have covered these players for many years, and I’ve seen them deal with a lot of situations. But the pressure they face on BIG BREAK NFL is unique and much different from anything they have experienced before.”
“BIG BREAK is a popular staple of our original series franchises, and we are honored to partner with the NFL to commemorate the series’ 20th season,” said Tom Knapp, Golf Channel senior vice president of programming. “With this unique team format and the sheer competitive nature the NFL legends will bring to the series, it will be exciting to see how the teams handle the pressure of playing in front of cameras and for each other.”
“When Golf Channel approached us about this program, we were excited to work with them to bring our fans closer to some of our greatest players in a new and unique way,” said Tracy Perlman, NFL vice president of entertainment marketing and promotions. “We are pleased to be working with Golf Channel to give some of the greatest to ever play in the NFL the opportunity to compete against one another on a different playing field and for good causes.”
