The head coach of Kansas City had to persuade him that the upcoming Netflix series should include his famous quarterback.
As always, this week’s Peter King’s “Football Morning in America” column for NBC Sports covered a wide range of NFL subjects, but one of them was what King called the “Netflix Football League” — the new “Quarterback” series being co-produced by the steaming service, NFL Films, Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ new 2PM Productions.
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As we told you when the new series was announced last week, Mahomes, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota will each be featured in episodes of the series, which is set to debut on Netflix this summer.
In Monday’s column, King quotes NFL Films executive producer Keith Cossrow at length about the show — starting with explaining why the show will focus on quarterbacks like Mariota.
“Having three quarterbacks in three distinct circumstances allows us to paint a complete portrait of what life is for an NFL quarterback,” said Cossrow.
King notes that this would give a perspective that could not be covered if the series focused only on the league’s top quarterbacks.
“You’ve got a Heisman winner, the second pick in the draft, who rediscovered his love of the game in Vegas, and now here’s his chance,” Cossrow says of Mariota’s 2022 season. “Did it work out in Atlanta? No. But how he got to this point — and the aftermath — will be significant aspects of the show. His wife gives birth to their first daughter, he finds out the next day he’s been benched, there’s a little bit of fog of war after that, and then he goes home to Vegas for surgery on his knee. All in three days.”
King quotes Cossrow as saying that the episode featuring Cousins will end with a private moment at his home after the Vikings’ Week 3 win over the Detroit Lions — in which a Cousins overthrow kept Minnesota from getting another touchdown in the victory.
“There’s a firepit in the backyard,” says Cossrow, “and the kids are eating s’mores. Everyone leaves — and it’s kind of dark — and Kirk’s there. He’s beating himself up over the overthrow. Captured beautifully. That was the first [clue], to me, that we’re going to get what we’re after here.”
Per King, Mahomes’ participation in the show almost didn’t happen — because Kansas City’s head coach wasn’t originally on board.
“At first,” writes King, “Andy Reid had to be convinced — a phone call from Manning was involved — and it sounds like Reid gave his blessing when he found out Mahomes really wanted to do it and that NFL Films cameras wouldn’t be around the facility, a la ‘Hard Knocks.’”
This rings true. It wouldn’t be the first time that Reid has gone along with something that he personally finds uncomfortable after he learns how much his star quarterback wants it.
Cossrow relates some details about Mahomes’ episode of “Quarterback” — including some footage from his home after he was injured in the Jacksonville playoff game, along with how he devotes daily practice time to making off-platform throws.
“Basically,” says Cossrow, “you’re gonna learn how Patrick Mahomes is like an owl.”
Source: arrowheadpride.com
