At a time when NFL Media has made some curious programming decisions, a new mystery has emerged.
What happened to the Around The NFL podcast?
Multiple readers have asked us that question, given that one of the three members of the show, Gregg Rosenthal, previously worked at PFT.
Here’s the answer, and I’m providing it in order to stop getting emails about it: I don’t know.
No one else seems to know, either. And whoever does know isn’t saying. An NFL Media spokesperson has not responded to three different emails sent by PFT on the subject over the past two days.
The explanation could be as simple as the league has decided to shut it down until training camp opens, deciding that the post-draft offseason juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Given that other decisions made by the league regarding NFL Media seem to be driven by cutting costs and increasing profits, it’s not crazy to think the league decided to mothball the show until football is back.
Or maybe the podcast has gone the way of Total Access. The once-signature NFL Network show has been canceled after more than 20 years. Before that, the league sent Good Morning Football into five months of limbo, while the show moves from New York to L.A.
With both of those developments, the NFL said what was happening. In this case, crickets.
Meanwhile, other NFL Media podcasts have continued to post new content since Around The NFL went dark.
Whatever the explanation for the 32-days-and-counting disappearance, the fact that no one from the show or the league has addressed it or explained it makes the whole thing confusing.