As a former NFL MVP, Super Bowl Champion, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, NFL Man of the Year, two-time Pro Bowler, and two-time CFL All-Star, Joe Theismann had a legendary pro football career.
Ahead of the American Century Championship, which Theismann is competing in from July 11-13 on NBC, Peacock, and The Golf Channel, the College Football Hall-of-Famer opened up to PFSN about the Washington Commanders’ turnaround, Jayden Daniels, what’s holding back Tom Brady as a broadcaster, Cleveland Brown rookie Shedeur Sanders, and more.
One-on-One With NFL Legend Joe Theismann
I have to ask about you changing your name to rhyme with Heisman while at Notre Dame to improve your chances of winning the Heisman Trophy. That’s a legendary story.
Joe Theismann: “So, actually, I didn’t change it. It was Roger Valdiserri, our PR advocate. So, Roger calls me in the office, he says, ‘Joe, how do you pronounce your last name?’ I said, ‘It’s Theesmann.’ He says, ‘No, it’s not. It’s Theismann.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not. It’s Theesmann.’ He says, ‘No, it’s not. It’s Theismann.’ So I said, ‘Give me the phone.’ I called my dad. I said, ‘Dad, I got a question for you.’ He said, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘Dad, how do you pronounce our last name?’ And there’s this pause, and he says, ‘Are you all right?’
“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m fine, I’ll explain it later. But how do you pronounce our last name?’ He said, ‘Theesmann.’ I hung the phone up, turned to Roger, and I said, ‘My last name is Theesman. I just got off the phone with my dad.’
“He said, ‘Joe, I want to tell you something. There’s a trophy out there called the Heisman Trophy. It goes to the best college football player in the country. We think you have a chance to win it, but we’re not just going to count on your athletic ability or the reputation of the University of Notre Dame. We think by changing the pronunciation of your name from Theesmann to Theismann to rhyme with Heisman, we can help you win that trophy.
“And that’s how my name was changed. Then, I called my grandmother, who was the matriarch of the family. My heritage is German and Hungarian. My grandmother is German. So, I called my grandmother and I said, ‘Granny, look, they want to change the pronunciation of our last name from Theesmann. What are your thoughts? She says, ‘Well, I tell you this. What they want to do is closer to what it should be, and I’m okay with it.'”
Did the whole family go along with that change then?
Theismann: “No, they’re all Theesmans. Just the kids [changed it]. And that’s 53 years now. The brand’s been created. But yeah, that was Roger’s brainchild.”
There’s been a lot of talk about Tom Brady’s transition from NFL star to broadcaster. What was it like when you made the transition to the broadcast booth, and what were some of the biggest challenges that you went through?
Theismann: “Well, I was basically learning to speak in sound bites. You have to be able to present something in a very short period of time. You’d like to be able to explain things more, but you really can’t. You really want a tight broadcast. You can’t just keep on talking over plays and talking over the play-by-play guys.
“So, you have to find that niche where you make a statement. For example, let’s say Patrick Mahomes is trying to get Travis Kelce, and he misses him. Broadcasting is what and why. The ‘what’ is what your eyes tell you — what you see. The why is our job — why it happened. So, I call it the what and why business. If Travis was unable to make the play — well, did Patrick have somebody in his face? Was the defense covering him? So you explain the why, but you have to do that in a very concise way.
“I think in Tom’s case, I would find it challenging due to his ownership of the Raiders. He can’t get all the information that every other broadcaster has access to because he can’t sit down with coaches. He can’t sit down with players. I don’t believe he can go to facilities.”
Tom Brady is working under heavy restrictions in the broadcast booth because of his 10% stake in the Las Vegas Raiders 🎙️https://t.co/c9kwRfTaPU pic.twitter.com/Gy3C4rqvNp
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 18, 2024
Yeah, that’s a huge disadvantage.
Theismann: “You’re basing it on Tom’s many years of knowledge, and he has a tremendous amount, yet he can’t sit with a young quarterback. I don’t even know if he can talk to him on the phone. There are restrictions that don’t allow Tom to take it as deep as I’d like to hear him take it. I respect his knowledge so much.
“And then if you can get information from a coach or players, it helps even more for the fans to understand. I think he has a ceiling there that he can’t get above simply because of the rules and regulations set by ownership.”
Ideally, you’d want him talking to young quarterbacks, who could pick his brain.
Theismann: “Oh, can you imagine? Can you imagine Tom in a room with a young quarterback and Tom is sitting there?! It would make that kid’s life. But right now, as far as ownership goes with the Raiders, it can’t happen.”
With new ownership and Jayden Daniels, the Commanders have become a model NFL franchise, which is obviously a big change for this franchise. What do you make of the new ownership group, the job they’ve done, and the turnaround?
Theismann: “First of all, the turnaround is incredible, and I think Dan Quinn and Adam Peters, the GM, and the entire organization did a great job. [Commanders owner] Josh Harris and his group have done a wonderful job, and the thing that I appreciate about Josh so much is that they didn’t come in and start dismantling this organization.
“They bought it, they took a hard, long look at it, and they said, ‘What do we have? What do we need to do? Who are the people we need to put in place?’ And they’ve just taken their time to put the organization together the way they want it, the way they envisioned it to have success. Now, with the approval for an opportunity for a new stadium downtown, it’s sort of running full cycle to go back on the old RFK site. It’s really exciting what this football team is going to be able to do.
“But it’s been a very, very well-laid-out and executed plan to get this team where it is. And of course, Jayden is making a world of difference. And Dan is one of those coaches — there are coaches that are ‘players’ coaches.’ It’s not that they let the guys run amok, but there’s a discipline and a respect for the coaches and the players and one another, and I think that carries through the organization.”
You’ve said that Jayden Daniels is a generational talent, and you’ve praised his game. What do you think is the ceiling for Daniels? And have you had any kind of interactions with Jayden since he joined the Commanders?
Theismann: “Yeah, we’ve spent time together, we’ve visited [each other]. I love to watch him work. I love that he’s got a tremendous work ethic. He doesn’t want to be good — he wants to be great. But it’s not that ‘all-about-me’ kind of syndrome. He’s all about the football team. He’s all about him getting better as well as the team getting better, and I think he’s extremely well respected by his teammates. I think he’s liked. There’s a difference between being liked and respected. He’s both.
“I think because he puts the time in, guys notice that. You can’t hide from a teammate. You may be able to BS everybody, but you can’t hide from a teammate. They know what’s going on.”
One of the big topics that a lot of people are talking about right now is Shedeur Sanders. What did you make of him siding in the NFL Draft? What do you think of his game? And as someone who was a fourth-round pick who went on to become an MVP and Super Bowl champion, what advice would you give him?
Theismann: “First of all, I think he’s got a lot of great natural talent. The college level is a different level than the professional level. I know he’s going to put the time in to learn. Believe me, Shedeur is not the football player he is because of his last name. He’s the football player he is because of the work ethic that he has and his desire to be not just good but great.
“When your dad is Deion Sanders, that’s a challenge, but he’s been dealing with that for so long. This is nothing new for Shedeur to have to deal with. ‘He’s my dad. Okay, fine. I just have to go out and do my job.’ You’re not going to make your bones in this business based on what Deion did. You’re going to make it because of you.
“I think he’ll need to put the time in — the extra time in — to put the study in to be able to be the guy that’s a part of the team that the players will respect because of your work ethic, because of your knowledge of the system, because of your ability to make plays. That’s how you earn respect in this game, and I believe he’ll be able to do that.
“I think that a little bit of the way the game was played… I mean, having Travis Hunter as your teammate and the Heisman Trophy winner and making the plays that he’s made maybe skewed a little bit of what people thought. ‘Well, was it Travis? Was it Shedeur? How did it work?’ I look at the natural talent, number one, which he has. And then the next thing’s up to him: how do you want to apply your natural talent to being as good as you can be to help the Cleveland Browns be a better football team?
“Because goodness only knows… I made the comment during the draft that they should have called Kevin Costner and thought about what he was going to do, because that’s worked out pretty well in Cleveland. When you were looking at what the Browns were doing, it was like, ‘Gee whiz, they’re doing a sequel [to ‘Draft Day’]!'”
What do you make of how young quarterbacks are developed today? They’re getting paid in college and many are changing schools, so they’re essentially pros before they even enter the NFL.
Theismann: “I don’t think they are getting developed. I think they have to develop in the NFL. They can’t develop in college because they’re moving around too much. The development has to happen at the professional level. It’s not happening at the collegiate level.”
You’re competing in the American Century Championship from July 11-13 on NBC, Peacock, and The Golf Channel. What are you looking forward to about the tournament?
Theismann: “This is the 36th American Century Championship, and I played in 35. I’ve been there forever. It’s $750,000 in prize money, with 70,000 people. Mardy Fish won it last year. Steph Curry won it the year before. He’ll be back.
“And we have a new element too, which is so exciting and fun. It’s called the American Century Fantasy Golf Contest, and you can log on to accfantasygolf.com — all the players are broken down into five groups based upon their ability to play. You can choose one player from each group, and each day, there is a winner. You can change the next day if you want. You’re not stuck with the same group of people.
And so what happens is if you win one day, you wind up with two tickets to next year’s tournament. If you win it all, it’s a $10,000 check to the charity of your choice as well as two tickets to next year. American Century does so many wonderful things, too; 40% of their profits go to the Stowers Institute for Research. It’s just amazing what they’ve done.
“We’ve raised $8 million for charities, as well as Stowers Institute, and in the Lake Tahoe area. But American Century is an incredible company, and of course, it’ll be the usual cast of characters. The Kelce Brothers will be there, Charles Barkley, Josh Allen, the new Pittsburgh Steeler Aaron Rodgers, Annika Sörenstam, and Larry the Cable Guy.
“It’s a loaded group every year. I’m always amazed at the list of names. It’s pretty impressive the names they get. You know what I enjoy so much is meeting people. You read about all these people, but you really don’t get to know them. For 35 years, it’s getting to know so many wonderful people, being around them, what makes ’em tick.
This is a collection of incredibly great players like Alex Rodriguez and Jerry Rice. This is a collection of just the greatest in their field, whether it’s music, acting, athletics — it doesn’t matter. This is the best of the best, and it’s a great place to spend five, six days to just observe and learn and listen and have conversations.
“My favorite saying is really simple: the day you stop learning is the day you stop living. And there are so many different ways to learn, and out there, it’s like being in a library of greatness. It’s wonderful. It’s like a legends conference. I love it.”
