Marc was kind of like a player-coach to all of us at NFL Network. Most execs who run talent units at TV Networks have never spent five minutes in front of a TV camera doing live television. Yet we’re supposed to buy into what they’re telling us, on how to make us better. That’s like having a football coach who never played football. See how backwards that is. I’ve been given more useless advice in this arena, than any aspect of my entire career, on and off the field. But Marc Watts is different, because he actually spent thousands of hours on television as an anchor man and a correspondent. You could tell when he critiqued our air checks that he knew what he was talking about. (Novel concept right!) Marc hired a lot of people who would have normally been passed over for on air jobs. All of us were unique in what we brought to the collective on-air product. I saw where he helped start up an esports network. Go figure. Marc the visionary was all over that one before esports even became a household world. He’ll create EMMY-award winning shout casters over there. Just watch. I’m not sure there is a single job at a TV network that he can’t do. Marc is a Swiss-Army knife media executive. The reason Marc has a magic touch on TV content is because he has such a complete understanding of what it takes to be a TV performer.

 

He operates off of a moral compass that always points to fairness and integrity. He’s just a nice polite person. I’ve never seen Marc mad or ever lose his cool. I really believe he stays balanced from all those years doing live TV. It’s just not in his nature to ever be rattled. Above all he’s a good leader who’s not afraid of being led. He’s gonna laugh when he see this, because I stole that line from his wall!

 

Excerpt from “The Artful Safari of a Broadcast Journalist”