As many of you know, I was selected to be on the alternate Yahoo broadcast of the first-ever worldwide stream of an NFL game as the Buffalo Bills are taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars from Wembley Stadium in London.

As I am humbled by this tremendous honor and excited to work with Larry Beil, Kirk Morrison, Shaun King and Chris Trapasso, I figured I would document this historic experience through a blog.

ICYMI, here was the Day 1 Blog which features my adventures in travel.

Here was Day 2 which included our rehearsal and night out. 

Really early start

2:45 a.m. PST- I’ve been waking up just about every hour so I decide to just give in and get out of bed.  I obviously have a lot of energy going because of today’s world-wide broadcast.  The first thing I do is button up the blog entries from yesterday and then make the Content Schedule for my guys.

4:05 a.m.- It’s time to shower and get ready for the day.  Everything goes smoothly as I’ve finally figured out the right water temperature setting without incurring first-degree burns.  I get dressed, pack up my stuff and call for an Uber.

4:35 a.m.- I see Chris Trapasso down in the lobby and shortly after Shaun King arrives.  We’re waiting on Kirk Morrison.

Heading to the studio

4:45 a.m.- Uber arrives and we pile in and head to the Yahoo studios.  It’s pretty early in the morning, but there are no lazy eyes anywhere.  Everyone appears to have their game faces on and there are more bagels and fruit for us to snack on.

King dresses like he’s from Florida

5:45 a.m.- Shaun King puts a tie and jacket on…with camouflage shorts.  He’s sitting down behind a desk for a quick hit on the pre game show.  His cover is blown by the host and now the world knows what he was wearing.  Laughter erupts when she tells him to stand up.

Energy is at a crescendo

6:15 a.m.- There’s a lot of nervous energy in the building.  We take our places in the studio and get ready for the broadcast.  Trapasso was smart enough not to leave any open containers around so I didn’t knock them over like yesterday at rehearsal.

6:30 a.m.- Kickoff occurs and we’re on air.  To be perfectly honest it seemed pretty surreal that I was on an NFL broadcast which was shown around the world.  It’s historic and I no longer feel nervous, but proud that the NFL and Yahoo Sports thought enough of me to be invited to this.

The actual broadcast

6:40- 9:45 a.m.- If you guys watched and listened to the broadcast you know what happened in the game.  It was sometimes ugly (E.J. Manuel playing quarterback, Dwayne Gratz playing cornerback, the Jacksonville kicking game, the Jacksonville play selection), but it was extremely entertaining.  We gave a different perspective than the antiseptic CBS broadcast.  There was a little bit of cheering, we were joking about stupid plays and Chris and myself provided inside team analysis that you can’t get anywhere (unless you’re actually watching a game with us).  It couldn’t have been more fun and the Twitter response that I received was overwhelmingly positive.  I’m truly thankful for Roger Goodell and everyone at Yahoo who made this possible.  I’m confident that what we accomplished today will be the future of sports broadcasting.

MJD shows up

10:05 a.m.- I had to pee since the end of the third quarter so now I don’t walk, I run to the bathroom.  On my mad dash through the halls I notice Jacksonville Jaguars legend Maurice Jones-Drew.  After I finish my business (and wash my hands), I head over to the green room to talk to MJD.  I used to cover him in Jacksonville and he’s one of the best, most personable guys you can ever talk to.  Kirk, MJD and I take a few pictures together to document the experience.

Travel time

10:25 a.m.- I change shirts and Kirk, Chris and I grab an Uber and head to the airport.  The security line is longer than it should be for an airport of San Jose’s size, but I have roughly three hours to kill so it doesn’t matter.

About to watch some football

10:55 a.m.- I make it through security un-frisked, and I head to the bar to grab something to eat and watch the games.  Some guy requested that NASCAR be put on one of the TV’s, but I shut that down.  Right now I have Jets-Pats, Saints-Colts and Vikings-Lions.

11:05 a.m.- I order a Kobe cheeseburger, which I’m not sure was actually Kobe beef.  It was overcooked and cost $20.  At least it came with garlic fries, which were very good.  Hopefully nobody on the plane will engage me in conversation.

Boarding

1:00 p.m.- I board the plane and I head to the back, all the way back.  It’s an aisle seat and the guy next to me is pretty small, so that’s a good thing.

Inconsiderate and overweight

2:38 p.m.- I’m doing some work on the plane (because I don’t stop working, I simply pause to eat, sleep and work out) and the large man in front of me reclines his seat all the way back.  This causes me some issues as I now have to hold my laptop at a really weird angle and I can’t keep my fingers on home row.  I may or may not knee the back of his seat for the next four hours.

Charlie fights back

4:19 p.m.- Yes, I just referred to myself in the third person.  I’m getting some work done, but it’s at a slower pace than desired, as I’m having to hold my hands all weird and the internet keeps failing.  To pass the time and for my own amusement, I keep checking to see if the guy in front of me is sleeping and then I “accidentally” bump into his seat and wake him up.  He finally gave up and moved his seat back to its upright position and I’m back at a good pace.

Sightseeing

6:35 p.m. CST- We begin our descent into Dallas.  As I look around the cabin I see an enormous head of red lady hair.  There is a woman with a full-on perm with hair as bright as Ronald McDonald’s wig.  I can’t look away.

6:39 p.m.- I finally look away.  We’re going over AT & T Stadium, aka the Jerry Dome.  It’s one of my favorite venues and it represents everything about Texas and Americana as a whole.  It’s big, obnoxious, unnecessary and completely awesome.

Bad BBQ

7:05 p.m.- I get off the plane and I have to pee again.  I take care of that business and am pleased to see a bbq restaurant.  I order the “rib platter” and when I received it there was three ribs…for $20.  They were terrible and my stomach didn’t react well.

Bad football

7:30 p.m.- I find a TV with the Eagles-Panthers game and I begin watching.  I love Cam Newton but he’s frustrating to watch sometimes with his mechanics.  He’s so good and he can be something we’ve never seen at the quarterback position.

8:00 p.m.- I find out that my flight is delayed 20 minutes.  At least I can charge my laptop up a little more to do some more work.

The last member

8:50 p.m.- I’m on the plane and I’m sitting next to two seemingly nice older people.  The guy is wearing a watch with some sort of turquoise charm and a red Member’s Only jacket.  He’s obviously the last member.

Amenities in flight

8:55 p.m.- I’m excited to see the plane has TV screens as well as a USB port.  My phone will be nice and charged for the long drive home.  I see the NBC logo and I think I’m going to be able to watch the game.  No dice, but at least there’s some programming to serve as ambient noise while I write.

9:50 p.m.- The beverage cart arrives and the guy next to me orders a chardonnay for his bride and then order’s two Johnny Walker’s.  I follow suit with my Coke Zero and he says, “I should have probably got one of those.”  He’s twice the man I will ever be.

12:10 a.m. EST- We finally touch down in Orlando.  I get my bag, grab a shuttle to get my car and the trip is complete.

Update: We find out that the broadcast was streamed 33.6 million times and that’s without counting Asia.  Pretty awesome!

Yesterday's @YahooSports global live stream for the @Jaguars vs. Bills game in London had 33.6 million video streams (via @SI_PeterKing).

— Tad Dickman (@TDickman89) October 26, 2015