The temp on most Northeast thermometers may say 90 degrees. The broiling sun certainly says summer. None of that matters to Brian Baldinger. It’s football season. If it were up to him, every time of year would be football season. July marks a period when NFL teams start training camp and Baldinger the former Eagle would like to hit all 32 team camps if he could.
“Baldy” played 12 years in the NFL. No one knew him. He wore the honorary badge of offensive linemen, the emblem of anonymity—except for holding or illegal blocking calls. At 65, and still going strong, no informed NFL fan can miss him today. When he is doing his “Baldy Breakdowns” he brings you inside the trenches and supplies an insight to the game a rare few provide.
The veteran NFL Network analyst will be starting his 29th year in the broadcasting business, which began with small radio jobs on weekday afternoons, to rising to the heights of where he is, about to embark on his 19th year with the NFL Network.
What makes Baldinger, who played from 1982 making the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent, to finishing up with the Eagles in 1993, special is an uncanny ability to reinvent himself, and a humility that created an unparalleled work ethic. His broadcast career and “Baldy Breakdowns” has far transcended his playing career. He speaks, fans and people around the league listen.
And as another NFL season approaches, Baldinger has the usual jump on everyone.
He can’t wait.
Born in North Hills, Pennsylvania, the middle of six children, including two younger brothers, Rich and Gary, who both played in the NFL, Brian carved his own niche, starting with going to Craig James’ first broadcast school in Dallas, Texas. Baldy was among 10 former players who went to the week-long tutorial, along with future fellow broadcasters Merril Hoge and Mike Golic. James, the former SMU great who paired with Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson to make the Pony Express, put together a program that encompassed print, TV, radio and game-day analysis coverage.
“When I walked out of that school, that’s when I knew,” said Baldy, who graduated Duke with degrees in history and psychology. “A lot of guys struggle after they leave the game. I pushed it, too. I tried to play a 13th year. I couldn’t pass any physicals. I found out about what Craig James was doing and thought I would give it a shot. Once I got busy, it took me about two years before I could make a living. I saved my NFL money, so I was fine there. But there was a transition period for me. I knew I wasn’t going to start at the top. I knew I had to work my way up. I knew I needed experience. I enjoyed every little jobs that I had.”
It also helps when you love the game. Like Baldinger.
He was raised on the game.
His father, James, who passed away a few years ago, was a Naval Academy graduate who served in the Marine Corps. James coached the Navy plebe team for two years with Steve Belichick, Bill Belichick’s father, then went back to the Marine Corps to fly helicopters.
He raised his children to be committed to whatever it was that they were doing and to be disciplined.
It’s exactly what Baldy did when he began his broadcast career, slowly building a resume. In 1995, he and a buddy started a radio show in Trenton, New Jersey, and Baldy picked up some extra work doing Eagles’ pregame shows. Open time was filled by doing spots on local TV, and constantly carrying a tape recorder with him everywhere, to Eagles’ games, 76ers’ games, the Phillies’ clubhouse, honing his interviewing skills speaking to players after games.
His gateway to larger platforms came in 1996 when he began covering a few NFL Europe games. Fox was so impressed that it signed Baldy to cover NFL Europe season for 1997, which transitioned him into the Fox sports family. The next year, 1998, he did a full season of NFL Europe, and he began doing NFL games with the eventual host of Fox NFL Sunday Curt Menefee. He has been working ever since, spending a total of 22 years at Fox, between NFL and college games. He began working for the NFL Network in 2005 and has been there ever since.
“No one works harder than Baldy,” said Barrett Brooks, one of the stalwarts on NBC Philadelphia’s Eagles Postgame Live show. “Baldy is the one who started me in this business. I was still playing with the (Pittsburgh) Steelers when I first started. When I got hurt, I started talking to Baldy. We started watching games and breaking down films. He got me into NFL Films and that is how I started. I can relate to Baldy because we have so much in common. We’re both former offensive linemen. We see the game differently. No one handed either of us anything in the broadcasting game. Baldy puts in the work. You have guys in this business who are immediately handed things without coming up from the bottom. Guys start in this business with instant name recognition. Baldy and I didn’t have that.
“Baldy and I came up from the bottom. People see the work that Baldy does. He pays such close attention to detail. Baldy has a quick, smart mind where he can break down things fast. Hey, people forget the guy has a couple Duke degrees. There are so many shock jocks here in Philly and Baldy is not like that. Guys throw so much up against a wall here and hope it sticks. Guys say things without merit, or anything based on it. This offseason was really bad. You can’t just come right out and say someone is getting traded without anything backing it up. Baldy would never do that. I’m proud of what he has done in this business. Baldy rolled up his sleeves and did everything the right way.”
We are days away from the NFL beginning its 105th season.
Baldy’s simmering.
“I’ve been doing this for a while and I still feel grateful,” said Baldy, who considers himself a citizen of the world, having once taken a seven-day trip climbing 16,100-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. “The NFL Network treats me like gold. I have my own office at NFL Films (in Mt. Laurel, NJ). I get my Offensive Line Masterminds merch and put it on. I know a lot of guys reach their 60s and they’re done. My mom still watches games and keeps up with me. I never want to let her down. The attitude comes from them, my parents. You have to keep going. I have a little something left. I can’t wait to begin the ‘Baldy Breakdowns’ this season.”
We can’t wait either.
