Lots to Say: Making Roster Moves and Fmr Pro Bowl OT Terron Armstead

The Bobby Bones Show

In this episode of 'Lots to Say,' Bobby Bones and Matt Castle discuss Matt's exciting new role as a color commentator for NBC's Peacock, cov

Key takeaways

• Matt Castle is stepping into a new role as a color commentator for NBC's Peacock, covering three Big Ten college games despite having no prior live game experience.
• The process of calling a live game requires precision, timing, and concise commentary, with the need to interject meaningfully between play-by-play updates.

Main topics

• Matt Castle's new role as a college football color commentator on Peacock

Notable quotes

"Be comfortable being uncomfortable."

Conclusion

The episode captures an exciting career transition for Matt Castle as he prepares for his debut

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Speaker 3 (0:04) The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zacharyson, host of the award-winning Late Round podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Listen to the Late Round Fantasy Football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (0:35) Whether you're a seasoned NFL fan or new to the game, there's one place to keep up with all of it. The league's newest podcast, the NFL Report, hosted by me, Andrew Siciliano. It is your home for everything football, breaking news, expert analysis, game picks, and hear from your favorite players too. Join me and an all-star cast of experts for everything you need to know from around the league. Get new episodes of the NFL Report Monday through Friday, all season long. Listen to the NFL Report podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (1:06) Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcast. Speaker 1 (1:32) Here's Bobby and Matt. Speaker 7 (1:56) Ooh, we've had some good Speaker 6 (1:57) matchups in week one of college, but I'd definitely go week one of NFL. We do. It's Speaker 7 (2:02) such a buildup. Speaker 6 (2:03) I'm actually going out to USC this weekend. I'm doing a mock game. So I'm calling the game, not officially, because I'm calling some games for NBC this year on their Peacock. Speaker 7 (2:13) This is breaking news. Breaking news. We have not shared. Matt Castle will be calling games on Peacock? Yeah. Atta boy. Yeah, I'm pretty excited for NBC. Like all games? No, I've got like three Speaker 6 (2:25) games in the Big Ten. Three games this year in the Big Ten, but I've got to go out for like a rehearsal, like a run through this weekend. So they call me and it's nice because it'll be at USC. They're playing San Jose State. But again, I'm kind of going on this thing blind. It'll be my first time doing it. So there's all those little things, you know, there's a dance to it and the conversation between you and the play by play. And I've been around a lot of the production part of it, but then it'll be my first time calling it. So I'm excited. I'm assuming you're doing the color commentating. Yes, I'm not the play-by-play. Got it. Yeah, I'm not setting up the play. I'm more of the why. Why did this happen? Why were they successful? All those things. Have you been practicing at home? I've been watching some film trying to, you know, because it's very concise. And then I've been watching some games and it's very interesting the ebb and flow to it all because the play-by-play does a lot of heavy lifting. They're setting up the play. They're talking about the run or the pass completion, who it was, the tackle. And then you're in. interjecting and giving your two cents on why it was a good route or what what took place up front that created the sack right with the game up front or something like that but you got to be pretty pretty in tune with what's going on and be very concise because the next play is coming in 40 seconds so and then there's the replay aspect of it but then there's times where Silence is better because it's a two-yard run. There's nothing really to say. You know, the guys that I think sometimes overwhelm you is they're just talking to talk. So, yeah, I think it'll be a good rehearsal and run through and I'll get a lot of feedback from it. Do you only get one rehearsal? One rehearsal. Have Speaker 7 (3:55) they heard you do this before or do they hire you blind? Hired me blind. Wow. Yeah. Speaker 5 (4:00) Okay. Speaker 7 (4:00) Yeah, I haven't called Speaker 6 (4:01) a game before, but I know football. So, I mean. I mean, how hard can it be, guys? I mean, we're dunking ball. Famous last words. Famous last words. Watch. Speaker 7 (4:09) Maybe I won't be doing games after they listen to the rehearsal. I didn't know this. This is so cool. So how many games are you doing? Three. Three Speaker 6 (4:16) games. Do you Speaker 7 (4:17) know what the Speaker 6 (4:17) games are yet? I know all Wisconsin games. I've got their last one out of conference, and I forget who that's against. I know I've got Wisconsin-Penn State and then Wisconsin-Purdue at the end of the year. Dude, that's awesome. Pretty fired up. Yeah, I mean, I've always wanted to call games. And I think that I'll be pretty good at it. And now it's just a matter of going out there and getting the reps and doing it. Yeah, but they're not giving you any Speaker 7 (4:40) reps. They're giving you one game. It's all good, Speaker 6 (4:42) brother. You know what? I love it. Be comfortable Speaker 7 (4:45) being uncomfortable. I love that phrase. When I was in college and then a year. Only one season after. So we had a Division II team in southern Arkansas, and I did play-by-play for them for like three radio stations. Did you really? Yeah, and when I had Speaker 4 (5:05) to Speaker 7 (5:05) travel, they wouldn't pay a full team, so I had to do play-by-play in color by myself. Speaker 6 (5:09) That had to be really difficult. It was just you Speaker 7 (5:11) talking about the game. You're just talking nonstop. And you're talking about with no visuals, too. That's really difficult. So, yeah, I remember it being kind of a beast. I think it is a beast. They do such a great job, though, Speaker 6 (5:25) with the production team. I know the producers and the directors and stuff like that. And just been in a lot of those meetings. I've been privy to that over the last three years because we traveled with that group and be able to sit in and kind of listen to how they're going about it and how the run through is. And then some of it's storytelling. I think the hard part, too, is in these preseason games, USC is favored by 40 points. 40 points. So at some point in the game. of the 110 players on any given squad, you're going to have probably about 85 of those players in the game that you probably haven't researched or know as much about, especially because you're talking about San Jose State that has almost a completely new squad. They have one returning starter on offense. Speaker 7 (6:05) Also, you call college games preseason. Your mind is NFL right now. You Speaker 6 (6:09) know it, but that's what I said. I said NFL back into Speaker 7 (6:13) it. That's super exciting. How long did you know that was in the works? Speaker 6 (6:17) I've only known for just probably about a month now. And it was kind of getting worked out and they offered it to me and they said, you can do one game, you can do three. And I said, give me them all. You know, I'd Speaker 7 (6:27) love to do it. You were making jokes last week at how you didn't have a TV job, but you knew you were going to do this. Speaker 6 (6:31) Yeah, well, you know, I was kind of holding it and I was making sure it's going to come to fruition. And then it became real when you said, oh yeah, the week zero's this week. And I was like, oh yeah, I'm Speaker 7 (6:40) leaving on Friday to go to LA. Well, they just worked the whole tape with you after? Speaker 6 (6:44) Yes, they'll go through it and discuss it. I'm sure I'll get feedback. I'll have the producer in my ear. I'm hearing what the main broadcast is going through and probably the sequencing of what we're doing because we're probably not going to be seeing exactly what they are. Maybe we will. I don't know. But I'll be hearing them go, wait, we're going to commercial or do this, that, and the other. No, I guess I mean like after Speaker 7 (7:05) you finish, are you guys going to sit down and watch it all back? I'm sure. Notes. Days after. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 6 (7:11) I'm Speaker 7 (7:12) sure. Speaker 6 (7:12) How about that? Oh, I'm sure he'll bring in those notes and it'll be a big laundry list of like, suck, suck, suck. Good. Suck. Good. Good, good, good. Suck, suck, suck, suck. So. Speaker 7 (7:22) You know, it's, it's, it's learning. I'm a little stunned by this. Out of nowhere on the show. He tells us he's. Yeah. Why not? He's America's new color Speaker 6 (7:29) commentator. I don't know about that. Speaker 7 (7:31) That's some pretty cool news. I'm looking forward to your new life here as America's favorite color commentator. Yeah. We Speaker 6 (7:37) can watch it? Not this weekend. Not this weekend. Which week in college do you go first? I think it's my first game September 15th and then the week after, or September 18th or something like that, and then it's the following week as well. Speaker 7 (7:50) In other news, but not the same, Deshaun Watson is getting the boot out of him. Oh, man. And he's also QB1. QB1. Speaker 6 (8:00) And I didn't know if after the press conference, after the game, obviously he came out and, you know, got after the fans a little bit. And look, they were booing him, getting after him. He, I understand because I honestly, I was booed when I got a concussion when I was with Kansas City. And I didn't really realize it at the time because it's kind of knocked out. They cheered, excuse me. They cheered when I got hurt. So it was a different situation. But at the end of the day, it's. Tough on his psyche, and he isn't doing himself any favors at all. And then for Todd Munkin to come out and say, hey, he's our starting quarterback, start the season, and he kind of backtracked Deshaun did on his statements and all that and tried to get in good graces. But the one thing going for him right now is they know they're going on the road for the first two weeks anyway against the Jaguars and Buccaneers. So maybe they're going to play it out and see how he does going forward. Because I think if you go with Shador to start, it's going to be hard to go back. to Deshaun after that, if you understand the thought process behind that. You got hurt, Speaker 7 (9:05) and then they cheered that you got hurt? Speaker 6 (9:07) When I got Speaker 7 (9:07) hurt, Speaker 6 (9:07) yeah. When I got hurt. How'd that feel? Oh, I don't think my wife really appreciated it very much. And I had some, like Eric Winston, my right tackle, came to my defense after the game and went up and was speaking to the media and just called everybody out. But at the same time, you know, it's... it's one of those that you give a lot to the city and you're trying to do your best week in, week out. I totally understand the fans' perspective. If you're winning, everything's good. If you're not winning, they'll boo you. They'll let you feel it. And that's their prerogative. They pay the ticket price. They do all that stuff. But I think it's more so injury when something like that, it definitely hits you hard. It digs down deep, and it's hard to forget that. Could you hear it, or were you Speaker 7 (9:50) knocked out? I heard it after the fact. You mean in clips, like video? You didn't hear it as the game was happening? Well, as I came to and Speaker 6 (9:57) started walking off the field. Oh, you did hear it as you were leaving the field? Yeah, as the other quarterbacks were, Brady Quinn's running on the field to take my spot. Like, you could hear it for sure. Was your bell rung so much that your feelings weren't hurt right then? Well, I mean, at that point, you become callous to most anything, right? And you kind of dealt with it because even when I first got there, In Kansas City, we were in a full rebuild that first year. We won four games. And so there was nothing but noise, you know, in terms of fans, media, all the stuff. And I had just signed that contract to go there. The second season, obviously, we go out and we perform well and we win the division. I go to the Pro Bowl and all that stuff. So I felt both spectrums of it. Speaker 6 (10:40) there's still the aspect of this is your home crowd. This is the team that you're playing for. This is the city you live in. And it's not just so much about you as a player. It's about your family's in the stands. My kids are in the stands, you know, so it's a tough one to swallow, I Speaker 7 (10:57) think. Speaker 6 (10:58) Dang. Yeah. Speaker 7 (11:00) I feel like time machine bad for you. Speaker 6 (11:02) Yeah. It is part of the business that... That part of it will chew you up and spit you out if you can't deal with the adversities that come with playing football and the media and everything else because it is a mental grind. I think there's a Speaker 7 (11:20) big difference, though, in you and Deshaun Watson, if you allow me to Speaker 6 (11:22) say that. There's Speaker 7 (11:23) a couple glaring. Speaker 6 (11:25) There's a couple glaring. Speaker 3 (11:34) You know the feeling. You make a pick in your fantasy draft and the entire room groans because they wanted that player. Or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in primetime. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zacharyson, host of the Late Round Fantasy Football Podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. We've got data-driven analysis, historical trends, and the strategies that separate winners from the rest. And your dominance doesn't stop with the draft. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers, and the mailbag. Data-driven, quick-hitting episodes to help bring home that league trophy. Listen to the late-round fantasy football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (12:30) The NFL never stops, and neither does its newest podcast, The NFL Report, hosted by me, Andrew Siciliano. It is your home for everything football. Speaker 4 (12:41) Williams, drifting, sprinting for space, in all kinds of trouble, putting it up for depth, and he ends up... Speaker 2 (12:53) We're tapping the biggest news stories, giving you expert analysis, fantasy previews, game picks, and more. We Speaker 1 (12:59) fly around every single play. We dominate every single play. Want Speaker 2 (13:02) to hear from the league's top stars ahead of the biggest matchups? We've got you covered. They're a really good football team. We've got to have all hands on deck. Join me and an all-star cast of analysts for everything you need to know from around the league. Get new episodes of the NFL Report Monday through Friday, all season long. Listen to the NFL Report podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (13:34) So let's talk about why Cleveland hates Deshaun Watson. Number one. Speaker 7 (13:42) He's been playing terribly. And you know what? I'm going to put that at number one because I think had he been playing awesome and he led them to three deep AFC runs or a Super Bowl, I think they go, oh, he's handled his business and his personal life. Right. Speaker 6 (13:57) I think that makes you forget a lot is success on the field. At the same time, it's probably going to go down as one of the worst trades, if not the worst trade of all time. Knowing... About all the legal issues that were going on at the time, making that trade for a guaranteed $230-something million. Then understanding he's probably going to get suspended, which he did. He comes in, plays mediocre, and then the injury problems, I mean, the injuries start to mount up for him. The torn Achilles, obviously, last year. And it's just, it's been a complete disaster. And they've never seen... The player that he once was, like you said, people will forget a lot if you go out there and perform. But the fact that he hasn't been on the field, he was suspended. He still hasn't really ever owned up to all the other chaos that went on before he came here. I think that all goes hand in hand with why Cleveland's having a really