THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
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SPORTS Vernon Kay – British TV's Football Guy The TV presenter plays the play as well as talking the talk, he tells The American's Josh Modaberi
Kay presents Channel 4's The American Football Show, which airs on Saturday mornings. However he doesn't just watch the sport and front the show. He gets his hands dirty and plays the game for 2013 BritBowl champions London Warriors. The Warriors beat London rivals the Blitz 26-23 back in October to be crowned the British American Football champions. It was third time lucky after the Warriors had suffered defeats to the Blitz in the previous two BritBowl finals and Kay revealed it was huge relief to win at the third time of asking. "It was a great feeling, it was kind of like getting the monkey off our backs," the defensive back exclusively told The American. "If we had lost for the third year in a row I think it would have been difficult to overcome that. "We don't want to be the British equivalent of the Buffalo Bills, lets be honest, with the amount of Super Bowls they've lost. "I was really pleased, it is something I had always wanted to achieve. Being an American Football fan and playing in the British leagues since I was 13-years-old, to finally win one it was a tick on the bucket list." Kay explains how he first got interested in the sport: "I got into the sport by watching it on TV first when Channel 4 used to show it on Sunday nights back in the day," Kay added. "Now presenting the NFL Saturday morning show on Channel 4, it's a dream job.
With Super Bowl XLVII set between Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos for February 2nd, Kay believes it is a great time to be a fan of the NFL in the UK. "Television coverage is better than ever," the 39-year-old said. "We get five live games a week, which is more than some states in America. "We've got access to everything online that the NFL puts up on NFL GamePass, we are rich within our riches when it comes to coverage of the game. "This season we had two sell-out International Series games at Wembley and next season we have three games at Wembley!" Kay has been over to America to watch NFL games and Super Bowls, and explains his experiences watching football stateside: "It is the Americana that comes with watching a game in America. It is the American language that makes an American sporting event better. You get the odd redneck hurling abuse or getting drunk, being American and that is what makes it special. "I've been to two Super Bowls now and they are without doubt the best sporting events I've ever been to. Everything is for the fans, there is no waiting in line, there is no queuing for food or drink. Everything is there for you as a fan because it is sports entertainment in America." For more information on Vernon you can follow him on Twitter @OfficialVernonK. You can also watch the Super Bowl XLVII live on Channel 4 and follow @C4NFL. |
