John Davis

JD Verne spotting SEA 1 John Davis

February 16, 2010—Would you be willing to do the following? 1) Attend 30 football games a year—a few in the National Football League and a few in college football’s Southeastern Conference. 2) Regularly interview some of the best football players in the world. 3) Travel extensively throughout the United States. 4) Work closely with legendary sports announcer Verne Lundquist. 5) Get paid doing it. Sound like a dream job? It is for John Davis . . . but for more reasons than you’d think. Cover photo: John Davis with daughter PJ, on the job. Above: John Davis (left) with Verne Lundquist, working a Seattle Seahawks game. Photos courtesy of John Davis.

LatterDaySports: What is your job title and what do you exactly do?

John Davis: It gets complicated right off the bat because I do a couple of different things. First, I am an employee of CBS Sports working as a talent spotter. Also, I work with the Seattle Seahawks; I have been for 12 seasons as a member of the game day public relations staff and work as a talent spotter. What that means is I provide those services to any TV or radio crew that comes to Seattle to do our games.

As part of the game day staff—after the game is over, after we’ve been on air, and after we’ve done the broadcast—we go down into the locker room, interview the athletes, record those interviews, then type those out, and distribute them to the media personal in attendance at the games.

LatterDaySports: I see, so that’s where all of that information comes from.

JD: Yes, because you’re not going to have a hundred people that are there to write stories down in that locker room. They’re worried about their deadlines. Most of the writers are upstairs starting on their stories. I’m part of a crew of about three to six guys, depending on the game. We go down and do all those interviews. We’ll hit the guys who have had good games, bad games, whatever, that are most likely of interest to the reporters. By the end of our effort we distribute a packet of probably 15 to 20 interviews with anywhere from four to six quotes, to a page and a half of quotes. The reporters can then thumb through and pick out what applies. There are always a few reporters who will come down into the locker rooms when they are chasing specific stories. But the guys who are on writing deadlines will be in the booth.

LatterDaySports: That’s interesting. That’s cool.

JD: That’s just the first part of what I’m currently doing. It works out nicely given my priorities with regards to my daughter. Again, 12 years ago I started doing this kind of work; I got into it completely by accident. I will tell you this: had I not served a mission, I would not be where I am now with this opportunity. I had no idea of knowing that my ability to capitalize on this unique type of work would come because of that service. Here’s what I’m talking about.

I was called to California to speak English. I served nine months and got sent home for another knee surgery. I was home six months, then had the choice to return to my mission. By the time I finally went home (from my mission) I had served two-and-a-half years.

In the last couple of months I had an opportunity to work with an elder who had hearing problems and because of that experience I learned to sign. That sign language really has benefited me. That’s partially how I put myself through school. However, it was in that very first game when I was asked to work as a spotter that I realized how easy it was to work with my hands in that way. It was so second nature and I was able to help the broadcaster understand (even with the silent communication) the things that were happening on the field. The broadcaster I was working with commented, “Hey, you’re really good at that.” Having had the background of playing football my whole life and then having a sign language skill set, and being able to communicate what’s happening on the field with only my hands made me a perfect fit for that unique position.

Those media teams that come to Seattle occasionally invite you to go on the road and work games in other cities; that’s also what happened with Verne Lundquist (Veteran Play-By-Play and Hall of Fame Broadcaster). I met Verne in Seattle seven or eight seasons ago when he was doing the NFL with Dan Dierdorf. We hit it off. There was a lot of Chemistry, we worked well together. We got along well and he eventually started calling saying, “Hey, will you come on the road with me and do these games down here?” He now has the contract with CBS Sports to do college football games in the SEC (Southeastern Conference). So every weekend, I am on the east coast with Verne doing live broadcasts of SEC football games.

Through the years, I have taught him some key signs, which enable us to communicate more efficiently than most spotters can communicate with broadcasters, which makes his broadcasts a lot more alive, with a lot more information.

So as an employee of CBS Sports, every weekend from the end of the end of August until January I’m working SEC games in the East. Then because I’m a glutton for punishment, I come back to the west coast to either do a Seahawks game in Seattle or if they’re on the road, I will agree to do games down here in Arizona for the Arizona Cardinals, or occasionally with Fox Sports, ESPN or Westwood One. So I’ve worked with broadcasters anywhere from Marv Albert and Kenny Albert, to Joe Theismann, Dick Stockton, Dan Reeves and you can just go down the list. I’ve done games with all those types of characters. So in any one season, I work about 28 to 30 football games, the equivalent of two full seasons

Davis (left) and Lundquist (right) have developed a system of charts and hand signals that make for a flawless television football viewing experience. Photo courtesy of John Davis.

LatterDaySports: So what exactly is a spotter?

JD: Here’s the best way I’ve ever tried to explain it. Picture that you are at home watching a football game, you see a play happen and you hear the announcer’s voice telling you who was involved on that specific play. My job is to silently—with only my hands—communicate everything that’s happening on the field that the announcer identifies, and communicate it between the time it happens on the field and he says it on the air. Here’s an example. If there’s a hand-off and a great block and then a tackle, my job is to communicate who the ball was handed to, who made the great block that enabled the run, and who made the tackle. In addition to that, if there was a holding penalty or anything like that—before the announcer says it on the air—the spotter will identify the specific players involved for him.

LatterDaySports: So the announcers don’t actually identify all of that themselves.

JD: Not most of the time. The broadcaster’s job is primarily to make sure that the experience for the home viewer is fun, that there’s a lot of chemistry between he and the color analyst. My job is to make sure that when he’s talking about the game, he’s accurate. Who made the catch? Who made that great hit? Who deflected the pass? Who actually made the interception, caused or recovered a fumble?

In some cases, I’ll create a large chart on my computer, basically the depth chart for both teams laid out by position, in the same formation as that specific offense or defense will run. In the boxes created for each athlete, I include all kinds of relevant data stats (anywhere from height, weight, hometown, stats, jersey number, year in school or in the league, etc.) On Monday, I send those to the broadcaster who has most of that week to write in any additional things about that athlete that he wants to remember. This is especially true after we have our meetings with the coaches and a few of the key athletes on the team in the days preceding the game.

Then during the game, as plays happen, I identify as many of the significant players registering notable stats on each play and sign to those details quickly and accurately to the broadcaster.

Most people don’t know that spotter’s job even exists, but the best broadcasters travel with spotters and rely on them heavily because they can’t always be sure which athletes are involved in every aspect of the play. The broadcast booth is often quite far from the field. So it’s tough to see. I spend my entire afternoon—those three-plus hours—looking through a pair of image stabilization binoculars. Think of it like looking for your initials carved in a tree from a helicopter, as opposed to looking at the forest. I’m looking at the font used on a jersey to see if the top of a letter is opened or closed … for example is it a “6” or an “8.” Does the top of the number break or not because from the booth it’s hard to see if it’s number 88 or number 86, and the (announcers) don’t ever want to be wrong so your job is to never be wrong.

LatterDaySports: Are there any teams who’s numbers may not be as legible as others?

JD: Oh yes. Every team has a different font and some of them are real easy to see quickly; like Alabama for example … their font is a nice strong block letter and their colors are crimson and white. There’s a lot of contrast, really easy.

Georgia Tech, in contrast, uses a font that’s almost italicized and their colors are gold and white. In the 2001 Seattle Bowl, Georgia Tech was there and they played inside Safeco Field. They took a baseball stadium and set it up for a football game. So I’m spotting from the broadcaster’s booth, which is perfect for baseball as it’s located right behind home plate. However, for football, I was about thirty yards behind the back of the end zone. So when Georgia Tech had the ball going into the far end zone they were about a hundred and fifty yards away. So again, I’m trying to detect the top of the number to determine if that second number is a “6” or an “8” on a jersey twisted around shoulder pads from the bottom of a pile. It can be so hard to see.

Davis and daughter PJ enjoy spending time together hiking …

… working …

… or just hanging out. Photos courtesy of John Davis.

LatterDaySports: How much traveling do you do?

JD: I board a plane more than a hundred times a year. Southwest Airlines is actually running a feature about our story in their in-flight magazine (Spirit) in March because we fly so frequently with them. I say “we” because my daughter often goes with me.

LatterDaySports: So they know you.

JD: Yeah. There have actually been a time or two that airline employees I’ve known have held flights for us. They’ve seen my name on the flight registry and kept an eye out for me.

LatterDaySports: I’m assuming that some of these individuals are sports fans and try to help you to get to where you need to go.

JD: You’re exactly right. Once this last year I had just flown into Las Vegas after a University of Florida game and was connecting while heading to Arizona Cardinals game. The flight that I was booked on would have landed about an hour and twenty minutes before kick-off, which would have been barely enough time to land in Phoenix, drive out to the stadium in Glendale, and be there in time for kick-off. Because the flight that came from Jacksonville, Florida got in just a little early, I ran down the terminal and found an earlier flight was about to leave for Phoenix. The guy working the gate was wearing an NFL jersey from his favorite team … so I was thinking, “I’ve got a shot at this earlier flight.” The gal next to him says, “Hey, this flight is oversold and there is a waiting list.”

Though I knew the flight was booked up, and I was nowhere near close to the top, I stayed around. Then, just before it took off, they called my name. I made that flight and it helped because there was a massive accident off the Loop 101 in Arizona. Had I landed with the original flight, I would have missed the game or at least have been really late for it. But because that guy was a football fan he bumped me up on the earlier flight and I made it.

It does happen, especially in the SEC. Understand, I grew up around football. My dad played, my brother played in college and I played through college and a few years in the semi-pros leagues. My mom and sisters were big fans of the sport and my biggest personal fans. I’ve been around football my whole life, but I’ve never seen anything like I see every weekend in the SEC; the BYU-Utah rivalry even fails to compare. People in the south take football so seriously. These people bleed these colors in a way I’ve never experienced in the west. It’s their way of life.

In small college-town cities, where the stadiums seat anywhere from 75,000 to 100,000 people, you will have a hundred thousand people who are going to get into the game, but there are another fifty thousand-plus people who are there to tailgate. These folks have no intention of getting into the game. It’s so important to them to be there and enjoy the party. They transform entire sections of campus into a tent-city like party. These people are huge fans. And, some of those same folks were with the airlines or the car rental desks and are just so willing to help you with whatever you need. When you are at a travel disadvantage like we are, every little bit can help.

LatterDaySports: Travel disadvantage?

If you are a fan, you know the dates of the home games you are going to attend months and months in advance. Even if you are going to follow your team on the road, you already know these dates long before the season starts. If you are a serious fan, you have months of lead time to make your travel arrangements. In contrast, as mid-season wins and losses impact a team’s standings, which then impacts TV ratings, we occasionally have as little as six days advance warning that we are headed to a given city to broadcast a game. It’s pretty simple math—making arrangements for anything from hotel to rental car to flight reservations isn’t always easy. That is why I say, ‘every little bit can help.’

LatterDaySports: Let me ask you about the other part of your job. You interview a lot of players in the locker room. What is that experience like?

JD: The NFL does some media training with their athletes, so they all have some interview skills. But the thing that I find is really significant is whether their team won or lost. I’m always assigned to the visiting team locker in Seattle. If the visiting team has won, those guys are usually much easier to interview. If they’ve lost, you know they’re grumpy, they’re upset, they’re in trouble, and they’re very difficult to interview. So I’d say that has a big impact on those interviews and their personalities.

One of many examples: Derek Smith who was a linebacker for the Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers a couple of years ago could not be a nicer guy. He’s an LDS kid that always made me proud to have that in common with him. Once, in the radio booth doing a 49ers game, I mentioned to Joe Starkey—at the time, he was the voice of the 49ers—that Derek and I had grown up in the same town and how I enjoyed interviewing him. Joe went off then and on other occasions since about how nice (Derek) was and how polite he was and he’d (Joe) go down in the locker room and do the interview and Derek’s the same way. He would hear you out and politely answer every question.

I’ve seen Chad Lewis, Itula Mili, Jason Anderson, John Tate, Dustin Johnson, Travis Hall and a number of guys that were on the team I was a part of at BYU … that is especially fun to run into these guys years later.

But, of course, there is always opposition to all good things. There are always those who are just in a hurry, in bad moods after a loss or are just so proud of themselves that they don’t even give you time to finish your sentence or are rude in one way or another which makes it tough to do your job. I won’t give any of those examples here, but they exist.

LatterDaySports: Why do you work in sports?

JD: The answer is, ‘my daughter.’

At first, during and after my college years, the field of sport was just a cool way to combine something I enjoyed with my training. Then one day, one of life’s many curve balls found me a single, stay at home dad with a two-year-old daughter. Traveling like I do is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing mostly because my daughter comes with me to some of these games and it enables me to be a stay at home dad with her during the week. Football games are something fun that we do together. She helps me do research, develop my charts (both early in the week and on game day), pack and prep for games. I will also set the DVR to record the games we will broadcast the next week. On weeknights, after we get homework done, we’ll watch the games and my little princess will critique my job performance. There is just nothing like hearing your seven-year-old daughter ask, “Daddy, did you give Uncle Verne the right information on that play?”

As for my ‘other job,’ it’s a communication services business (TAAZ Media). I provide public relations and media relations services. I do a tremendous amount of writing and strategic planning, and as appropriate, I provide project management services. I have been fortunate to work with clients that support my top priority of being first and fore-most a dad.

When I get asked to speak about my experiences, I’m pretty honest when I say working in the field of sport is not for everybody. When you think about “when” sporting events happen, most of them—especially in the pros—don’t happen during the day. They happen at night and on weekends and that means if you’re working those games you’re away from your family—nights and weekends. As a single dad, that works out real well because it’s something that my daughter and I do together. However, it’s not for those who don’t share that passion. If somebody in my situation were hooked up with somebody who didn’t like football or who wasn’t committed to being supportive, it could cause problems.

LatterDaySports: Have you ever had any opportunities to share the gospel while at work?

JD: Yes I have. There have been many special experiences. I have given copies of the Book of Mormon away in locations ranging from an airplane to a bar. After all the games my crew will go out. We’re far enough away from the hotel that I can’t always just walk back to the hotel, so sometimes I have to wait with some of the guys on the crew. We go out to dinner and inevitably those guys like to go to the bar because they want to watch other games that impact the games we may be doing in coming weeks. It’s to our benefit to watch the other teams play, understand their athletes, the types of plays that they run, etc.

So, I’ve gotten into a lot of conversations about, “Why is everybody drinking and you have a bottle of water in front of you?” There have been instances where that’s happened and I actually have been able to share the contents of what you and I would have known from the discussions, what people now know from the Preach My Gospel manual.

I’ve even had a dear friend join the church on the heels of our working together, which led to those questions. “Why are you different? Why do you wear a shirt and tie on Sunday mornings to these games.” That’s actually a funny story.

One of the very first games I ever did in Seattle, they wanted me to be there at nine o’clock Sunday morning for a one o’clock kick-off and I said, “You know I just can’t do that. I have a nine o’clock appointment with my daughter, but I could be there about 10:30.” As they were in need of a spotter, the response was, “Oh, okay we do need the spotter so hurry as soon as you can.” So I went straight from sacrament meeting to the stadium still in my white shirt and tie. Because I was wearing a shirt and tie—which is pretty uncommon—everybody thought I was someone far more important than I actually was. I was getting escorted up to the broadcast booth and people were leading me in here and there and I thought to myself, “I am onto something!” I still hold on to this tradition, for a couple reasons. I will tell you this: I have worn a shirt and tie every game I’ve ever done in 12 seasons. I continue to catch grief about it from numerous guys on my crew, but it puts me in a mind set that I want to be in, and it started with me and my commitment to do what I wanted to do on Sunday morning—be with my daughter in a sacrament meeting.

So because of that people asked why I was so different and I was actually able to eventually share the gospel with a friend of mine who went through the discussions. I got to be a part of her baptism and confirmation all because of my association with her through sports. I would never have met her if I hadn’t been involved (in sports).

I’ll share another special experience. I have also been invited to work some large games in cities that until recently were otherwise better known for their parties than their football. Once, in a quiet, off-site conversation, the broadcaster shared that one of the reasons he requested me to come and ‘spot’ that game for him was that he had observed me choosing to live my beliefs. And, that especially in the city we were in, he knew that come early Sunday morning, my mind would be clear and would be able to keep him on top of the game. That was fun feedback to hear.

LatterDaySports: That’s so cool. We’ll have to interview you again sometime down the line. It’s been so interesting. Thank you.

JD: You are certainly welcome. Thank you, it is a fun opportunity to share this crazy life that is fun, but all started with making the choices that I’ve made. 1) To go on a mission. 2) To put my daughter at the top of my list of priorities and build a life around being a dad in her life, and not just seeing her on weekends and after day care. To this day I’ve remained the most constant thing in her life and she’s been the greatest blessing in mine.