Veteran broadcaster Scott Hanson hosts the NFL RedZone on NFL Network every Sunday of the regular season. For seven hours each gameday, Hanson takes viewers from game to game to see the most exciting plays and highlights, including every touchdown from each game. Thursday, Hanson answered questions on Reddit. Here are our six favorite moments from the AMA:
1. WHAT WAS THE CRAZIEST NFL SUNDAY YOU CAN REMEMBER?
Every Sunday is a thrill ride, honestly. At least 1, 2 or 3 games are guaranteed to have a jaw-dropping moment. That said, there was a moment during Week 6 of 2012: Robert Griffin III's rookie year when he scored a 76-yard touchdown... seconds later, rookie Russell Wilson threw a game-winning touchdown pass to beat Tom Brady... seconds later, Jay Feely (Arizona's kicker) hit the upright on a potential game-winning field goal. We did it in a triple box and the hairs stand up on my arm just thinking about it today.
2. HOW MANY HOURS DO YOU SPEND PREPPING EACH WEEK?
Before I joined this AMA, I was working on RedZone preps for the weekend. I spend about 18-20 hours specifically on RedZone preps. But hosting NFL Total Access also helps a bit. It's like if your college professor gave you 10 questions for the final exam and said three of them are going to be on the test. If you're a good student you prep for all 10. So that's what I do.
3. WHAT IS YOUR STRANGEST "FOOTBALL PERSONALITY" STORY?
Yes, for each of the last 3 Super Bowls one of my jobs has been to introduce the team captains. Each of the last 3 years, Tom Brady has come up to me and told me how much he loves my work on RedZone. (He watches when they're on their bye week or playing in primetime.)
4. HOW MUCH OF WHAT YOU SAY ON RED ZONE COMES FROM YOU WATCHING MULTIPLE GAMES AT ONCE AND HOW MUCH DO YOU GET FROM PEOPLE WORKING AROUND YOU?
I'm 99% responsible for every word and description that comes out of my mouth. Sometimes info is fed to me, but most of the time I'm reacting live to what I see. Which goes back to my earlier answer about 20+ hours of research to saturate my mind with stats, research, storylines of anything I might need to talk about on the show.
5. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH REDZONE ALWAYS CUTS TO A GAME AS A TD HAPPENS/AT THE START OF THE PLAY A TD HAPPENS OR A PLAY BEFORE. IS REDZONE ON A DELAY OR IS THIS PURELY COINCIDENTAL?
Great question! 90% of what you see is live. However, no one can anticipate a 50-yard touchdown. When one happens, we take that video and queue it to the snap and we'll show it to you immediately. In fact, the player will still be celebrating in the end zone when we start that play. That's how quick we get it to the audience. I never try to spoil the outcome of an exciting play for fans. It's a DJ trying to mix and find that perfect match of plays.
6. HOW MANY BREAKS PER GAMEDAY DO YOU TAKE?
I'm asked this question EVERY DAY. The truth is I do not take bathroom breaks (or any other type of breaks). I've taken one bathroom break in the past six years #truestory