Evan Washburn Eyes March Madness for His ‘Instant Film Room’
Every once in a while a sports TV innovation comes along that’s so fresh and addictive, you have to tip your cap. This year, that innovation is Evan Washburn’s “Instant Film Room.”
Rather than asking the usual postgame questions, the CBS Sports sideline reporter has been showing NFL quarterbacks like Bryce Young, Aaron Rodgers, and Josh Allen the key play of the game via a portable video monitor. In many cases, it’s the first-time the players see the actual game footage after it’s happened. Their fresh-from-the-field film breakdown is providing some fascinating insights for football viewers.
On Sunday, Young recounted how his fake handoff froze Eagles linebackers long enough for him to hit tight end Tommy Tremble with a play-action pass for a TD. “As much ‘sell’ as possible to try to sell ‘keeper,’” the Panthers QB explained.
The normally taciturn Rodgers was delighted to narrate how hulking 265-pound Steelers tight end Darnell Washington turned a short pass into a 48-yard gain that led to a go-ahead field goal. Said Rodgers: “All I’m trying to do is get him the ball where he can catch and turn. Because once he catches and turns, it’s pretty incredible the big man. If you run it back, I don’t do anything. I throw a ball for two yards.”
Earlier this week, Washburn spoke with Front Office Sports about his Instant Film Room and the possibility of incorporating it into his March Madness coverage.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Front Office Sports: Tell us about why you started Instant Film Room—and what the reaction has been like?
Evan Washburn: It’s been in my brain for a little while now. I go back to last season, really, when it first sort of came to me. We were doing a game in Carolina where it was the Seahawks versus the Panthers late in the season. And our director, Andy Freedman, had a great cutaway into the stands of a fan, a Seattle fan in Charlotte, that looked exactly like Sam Darnold.
It obviously kind of went viral on the internet. I think Ian [Eagle] and J.J. [Watt] called him ‘Stan Darnold.’ It was classic. And I was thinking, ‘Hey, in the post game, I’d love to show Sam this as part of the post game interview.’ Because I have a remote monitor on the field that follows me so that I can see what the viewer at home is seeing at all times in case I’m doing a report and I’m referencing a player or a situation and I can actually see what the program feed is. So the plan was to have that in the monitor for Sam to see in our postgame interview, but we ended up having to do it live, which means you only get maybe one, if not two questions. So it just didn’t seem to fit in the moment. But that’s kind of where the idea was born.
And then, I love watching golf. I’ve become really addicted to the sport the last few years. It’s a big part of golf coverage. After a round, they’ll have a player come, whether it be on the desk or a reporter will grab them and walk them through their round. I think it’s a great way to get perspective from the player, which we get, whether you have a monitor or not. But especially football players, they are programmed to watch film and break it down. It’s what they do more than even play on the field. So I think it’s a real natural spot for them. And we’ve gotten some great reactions from guys when they get to see the play.
FOS: I loved your Bryce interview this past weekend. And Aaron Rodgers was one of my favorites. Talk about your favorite hits.
EW: Well, I think you picked two great ones. I think the Rodgers one definitely stands probably above the rest for a couple reasons. One, it was the first time where, and this is credit to our director Suzanne Smith and our camera operator on the field. And the idea of making sure that the monitor is in the shot so you can see the player looking at the screen. Because I think our first two with Josh [Allen] and Bo Nix, Josh was great, but it was just a tight shot of his face. So it didn’t have the sense, at least for the viewer, that he was watching the play as it had happened.
The thing that was so great about Aaron, that I think has been part of what the secret sauce to this, it’s an opportunity for these guys to talk about their teammates too—which the best leaders love to do. And the thing that struck me in that Rodgers interview was that he listed off the guys that were making blocks for Darnell Washington all the way down the field. So it wasn’t a great throw or play by Aaron Rodgers, but it was one where he was so excited because of everybody around him. And I think that part is key too … So yesterday it was Tommy Tremble: Make a play. So it’s a chance for them to shout them out. But also help us understand how they got that open or how that play happened.
FOS: Some viewers might not realize it but this is usually the first time the QBs are seeing the outcome of the play, because they’re typically buried on the turf under a pile of defensive players.
EW: It’s a great point because we—and I’ve been a part of it often—ask questions about plays in post-game interviews and players and quarterbacks are good at sort of taking us through what was going on in that play. But the ability to see it, and their first time seeing it, that’s when you get that genuine reaction. It’s not as if we’re watching the play on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. They’ve already seen it X number of times, whether it be on their phone or in the film room. And I would say it’s a more muted reaction.
But on the field, in some cases, like the Josh Allen play to win the game in Houston, or Aaron’s play to Darnell, those were plays late in the game that they had just finished actually completing in reality. And they get to relive it. And I think that’s led to an unintended benefit to this that I didn’t see coming. I saw this as a real X’s and O’s opportunity, which it has been. But I think the emotion’s been almost better from these, what I call the instant film room moments in the interview, than when I ask my more conventional questions in my lead up to bringing the monitor into the picture.
FOS: In an interview with Awful Announcing, you noted players are still looking at still photos of plays on the sidelines. But there’s a big difference when they see it on video.
EW: I think there’s been some evolution, but it’s all stills. It’s no
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