On the golf course, Rickie Fowler seems like a natural.
Rickie Fowler (Credit: Getty Images)
In high school, the Murrieta, Calif. native was a four-time Los Angeles Times Boys’ Golfer of the Year. At Oklahoma State, he became the first freshman to win the Ben Hogan Award, honoring the male collegiate Golfer of the Year. He was the PGA’s Rookie of the Year in 2010.
But how sharp is Fowler — who has two Top 10 finishes in three 2013 PGA Tour starts — as an the actor?
Last week at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. headquarters, Fowler, 24, taped his first This Is SportsCenter commercial.
There aren’t many details to share now — series veteran John Anderson co-stars — but if Fowler was at all flustered by the experience, you’d never know it.
The secret to acting in these pieces, he says, is “don’t try to be funny.” The team behind the This Is SportsCenter ad “will make you funny.”
In the video above, Fowler talks about his TISC experience, his friendship with ESPN.com golf reporter Michael Collins, watching his Oklahoma State Cowboys on ESPN and his fondness for social media.
Quarterback Brandon Weeden isn’t your typical NFL prospect. In fact, he’s been through the draft process a time before.
Prior to attending Oklahoma State University and leading the Cowboys to the best record in school history in 2011 (11-1), Weeden was a second-round selection by the New York Yankees in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft.
Pitching a few years in the minor leagues with multiple organizations, Weeden enrolled at OSU in 2007 and eventually found success on the gridiron in Stillwater.
Among draft prospects, he is currently ranked 51st overall according to ESPN NFL DraftTracker.
Weeden had the chance to visit ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., campus Wednesday when he was a guest on multiple ESPN platforms.
In the video above, he talks about the ESPN commentators he admires, what he likes about Monday Night Football and his experience in Jon Gruden’s QB Camp, which will debut Wednesday, April 18, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
For more information on Gruden’s QB Camp, click here.
Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden, who visited Bristol on Wednesday, is a prime NFL draft prospect.
He was arguably the busiest (and most sleepless) man in college football this past weekend so “Front & Center” is proud to have been able to wrangle a few minutes from ESPN’s BCS expert Brad Edwards.
In addition to getting into some of the nitty gritty on the numbers that led us to a BCS title game re-match between LSU and Alabama, Brad discusses: how he became the BCS guru; his “groupies”; the “Plus-1″ debate; and the possibility of a so-called “split” national champion.
Days before he was set to arrive in Virginia today, Joe Tessitore’s presence was felt.
From pre-Thanksgiving conversations between Tessitore and officials in the Virginia Tech athletic department, he emerged with a new nickname: “The Dragon Slayer.”
It was meant in good fun, no doubt.
Still, the VaTech camp has to wonder if Tessitore’s presence in Charlottesville, Va. this afternoon might spell doom for its No. 5 ranked Virginia Tech football team’s visit to Virginia (3:30 ET, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN3).
Based on his track record dating back at least a year and covering three different sports, Tessitore seems to be the underdog’s best friend and a heavy favorite’s arch nemesis.
“Among the players, coaches, athletic directors, and other media, this has not gone unnoticed at all,” said Tessitore (pictured right), who will call the Virginia Tech-Virginia game with analyst Rod Gilmore just hours after having described the Pitt-West Virginia game in Morgantown on Friday (also, of course, decided late for the 21-20 WVU win).
“They see that it’s our crew broadcasting the game, and there’s the expectation that something outrageous is going to happen, that the upset is going to happen,” he said.
No one should blame VaTech for being a bit nervous with Tessitore in the house.
Since November 2010, the versatile play-by-play announcer has been on the mic for huge upsets in horse racing, boxing and most notably college football.
Now he’s a week removed from describing huge upsets in Ames, Iowa and Waco, Texas in a 24-hour span.
In Week 12, double-digit underdogs Iowa State, Baylor and USC made a mess of the BCS with upsets of then-No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State, then-No. 4 Oklahoma and then No. 5 Oregon, respectively.
On Nov. 18, Tessitore and longtime colleague Gilmore called the host Cyclones’ double-overtime shocking win over 3-plus score favorite Oklahoma State.
The next night, Tessitore and analyst Matt Millen were in Texas to call Baylor’s first-ever win over Oklahoma.
Before the nation could stomach that 1-2 punch, USC shocked host Oregon.
Perhaps it was fitting that the voice of ESPN2′s boxing series Friday Night Fights was delivering the details of two of the stunning knockouts.
“To think that I called two of the three, and two of the three that were the most massive upsets, it seems I was at the right place at the right time,” Tessitore said.
Experts described Week 12 as ‘”the most outrageous and wild weekend college football has seen in the modern era,’” he said.
Even he would like to temper the hyperbole a bit: “When [people] make statements like that, it’s challenging to put it into perspective because it just happened.
“But it was pretty outrageous,” he said.
Still, it seems calling upsets is Tessitore’s calling.
It’s not just limited to this season — or this sport, for that matter.
Horse racing: As host of ESPN’s 2010 Breeder’s Cup coverage, Tessitore was trackside when 19-0 Zenyatta saw her unbeaten streak fall.
Boxing: During ESPN’s 2011 FNF season, Tessitore was ringside to describe the first losses for five prized prospects.
College football: Exactly one year ago today, Tessitore and Gilmore were in Reno, Nev. to describe the end of Boise State’s 24-game winning streak in an overtime loss to host Nevada.
