Aqib Talib had a successful NFL playing career, spending ten years in the league with stops at Tampa, Denver, New England and Los Angeles. After the 2019 season, the veteran cornerback decided to hang up his cleats and begin transitioning into his new role in sports media for the 2020 season.
The former cornerback spoke to Jimmy Traina on the SI Media Podcast to discuss various topics, including working with Fox Sports, where he called two games last season.
“When I got the call from Fox when my agent called me, he said they wanted to sign me to a three-game deal,” Talib told Traina. “It was a max of three games and a chance of no games because you’re not on the A-team or B team, so you’re just filling in for guys with all this COVID stuff going on,” Talib said.
“Kinda like an audition, really. I probably got like $10K for the game. I ain’t really get no cash for the game. It was just an opportunity. Opportunity to go out there and see if you could do it or not.”
Being a fresh voice on Fox Sports and providing in-game analysis for the first time to millions of people watching at home, Talib mentions that the executives at Fox had no issues with his style of color commentary.
“They had no problem with me being myself,” Talib said. “I remember Jacob Ullman, the producer; he was like, ‘Aqib, don’t try to be nobody else. Just be regular Aqib.’ They reminded me to be regular-a**, loose-a** Aqib.”
As for future work, Traina asked Aquib Talib if his priority was making money first or making sure that a potential network allows Talib to be himself. Talib was brutally honest in his response.
“Definitely, the money comes first. You don’t work without seeing what that money looks like,” Talib said.
The good news for Aquib Talib is his casual style won rave reviews. Many writers noted that his enthusiasm for the game was evident in a way that sometimes isn’t with more seasoned former players.
