Nick Halling

Nick gets our vote for the Hall of Fame for his longevity and loyalty to the game. He's been involved with the game in the UK right from its infancy, and while others have fallen by the wayside, Nick has managed to not only survive but flourish as a fully-fledged broadcaster. Super Bowl Sunday 2000 will see him call the game play-by-play for Sky Sports for the 2^nd year running.

Nick came into public view first in the mid 1980's as the "bearded" editor of the glossy Gridiron magazine (we will dig out this photo I promise). Gridiron was a good complement to the other monthly magazines that were out there (yes this was the prosperous state of the game in the UK at the time). However towards the end of the 80's, Nick shifted his involvement to setting up a weekly rival to First Down. Its title may have lacked imagination - American Football News, but it was a far more mature and serious publication than its main rival at the time. However the game in the UK was amidst its steady decline, and American Football News was unable to grab enough of First Down's readers to ensure survival. After about a year it eventually merged with First Down.

Nick next came into our view, when satellite station Screensport started covering the World League of American Football in its inaugural season in 1991. He and then sidekick Mike Carlson would provide commentary for the London Monarchs with mixed reviews. Americans got to hear from him too, when he worked a little as a sideline reporter for the cable station USA Network that covered the games in the US.

When the league returned in 95, Nick was again behind the mike providing play by play commentary from the now European based league. The improvement in Nick's performance was fairly dramatic; so much that FOX Sports Net would take the pioneering step of having Nick and his English accent broadcast games for them. Nick would get to work games with a whole host of stars including Brian Baldinger, Cris Carter, Kevin Greene and Levon Kirkland. We can only speculate that the many hours spent working beach volleyball and ten pin bowling for Sky Sports had honed his craft!

In the mid 90's, Nick was an integral part of Sky Sports live coverage of the NFL, and he also starting writing a weekly column in First Down. Despite the loss of the Monarchs, Nick always took every opportunity to plug NFL Europe. He's had to endure some controversy too, when Sky decided to take his and Baldinger's commentary over Madden and Summerall, but he called a good game at Super Bowl XXXIII to silence most of his critics.

Nick hasn’t lost touch with the people (even if he is a Southampton FC fan), and can be seen occasionally mingling with fans. He claims to have once shouted "Go Monarchs" when exiting the Cambridge Bar, and wasn’t chased! We must have been too drunk …

Steelers united! Nick and Levon Kirkland at Murrayfield during the 99 Season

• Week 4, 99 Season - During a home game at Murrayfield, Nick insisted that we popped up to the commentary booth before kickoff and ‘cheddar’ the fiercest linebacker in the NFL. So with just a wee bit of hesitation, we went looking for Nick and 270lb Pittsburgh Steeler, Levon Kirkland. Nick helped us convince big #99 that we weren't Packer fans, and the big guy obliged! (see picture above)
• The Bill Maas Controversy, World Bowl 99 - Nick tried his best to calm the feud that was the "Cheddars vs. Bill Mass" controversy late in the 99 season. But there was no swaying Bill and his "The Look". Thanks for trying!
• NFC Championship Game 99-00 Season - In the space of 3 hours Nick had his impending induction revoked and then re-instated again, in a development that we can exclusively reveal now. With the Rams a 14 point favourite over the Bucs, Preston was confident that his St. Louis Rams would be able to comfortably book a surprising Super Bowl trip. Then Nick uttered those immortal words just before kickoff - "I just can’t see how Tampa Bay can win this game!" Ouch! With the Bucs leading 6-5 late in the 4^th quarter Preston was threatening to use his veto and have Nick kicked out. Then Nick saved himself with more immortal words - "I just can’t see St. Louis scoring on this defense now! Chi-ching! Ricky Proehl 30 yards, Touchdown Rams, Game Over and Hall of Fame induction re-instated!

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