What can Tim Howard not do!? He had an incredible 16 saves against Belgium in the World Cup, and is also the starting goalkeeper for Everton F.C. in the English Premier League. And, even as he trains and plays in front of the net this season, he will also be one of NBC Sports’ top analysts for the English Premier League. Thus, after every Saturday game he plays in or on the days he doesn’t have a game, he will be in the studio mic’ed up and ready to give some of his own insights for NBC Sports. So it would seem the brick wall from the World Cup is going to do all he can to keep the soccer craze going in America, just adding to the list of things that #TimHowardCouldSave, not that soccer needs saving at this point.
According to MLS Soccer, Howard will cover as many as 10 games for NBC and will feature on what the network dubs “top-tier games.” This will not be Tim Howard’s first rodeo in the TV booth either. He made seven appearances as a commentator on games last season. Obviously, NBC Sports is very excited to have him on. Pierre Moossa, the coordinating producer of NBC Sports Group’s Premier League coverage stated, “Tim had an impressive debut on our telecasts last season and we are excited to have him join…as an active Premier League player, he contributes unique perspective and insight to our broadcasts.”
Imagine if during Monday Night Football there was, say, Drew Brees or Peyton Manning in the booth breaking down the action on the field. It would be awesome. But it simply would never happen in American sports - unless the NFL start taking notes from the EPL. Unlikely at best. Either way, it’s a great move by NBC to up Premier League interest on our side of the pond.
This news rounds out what has been a summer to remember for Tim Howard. From being one of the top goalkeepers in the World Cup, to creating a Twitter frenzy with the hashtags #TimHowardCouldSave and #TimHowardForPresident, he was definitely one of the biggest winners from World Cup 2014. Howard’s image and brand sky-rocketed during that incredible performance against Belgium. According to statistics from AdWeek and Twitter, during that game Tim Howard reached up to 55,187 mentions per minute on Twitter. He also added nearly half a million followers during the whole tournament. So, Tim Howard will have a busy season training and analyzing the beautiful sport, but he will surely be making it up in his bank account!
P.S. Here are some of the best #TimHowardCouldSave memes in case you forgot about them.
(Photo: @Mike77400 | Twitter)
(Photo: @HostillKnight | Twitter)
(Photo: @kenyonwalker | Twitter)
