When the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fight for the 55th Super Bowl in the night from Sunday to Monday (0.30 a.m. in the sports ticker of WELT), then many football fans in Germany will hear Patrick Esume's voice in the Have an ear.
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The 47-year-old from Hamburg played for several Hamburg teams during his active time and led the French American football national team as a coach to titles at the World Games (2017) and the European Championship (2018).
Esume is now the best-known football expert in Germany and comments on the NFL games for "ran football".
Before the Super Bowl he spoke to WELT about the Tom Brady phenomenon, the chances of both teams for the title and the newly founded European League of Football, of which he is commissioner.
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WORLD:
Mr. Esume, when you sit at the commentator's table at "ran Football", you always have huge pieces of paper in front of you.
What is actually on it?
Patrick Esume:
These big pieces of paper are the depth charts of the two teams.
It has players, coaches and everything else that goes with it.
The lists are broken down by position and who is playing at all.
In addition, there is all information about the players: height, weight, since when in the league, history, injuries, personal facts and so on.
I write everything down there and prepare it for each team every week.
That's why it's good if you've had all the teams in the play-offs;
the preparation time is then somewhat reduced.
But it takes hours and days of preparation.
WORLD:
In the semifinals you prepared for the duel Tom Brady against Aaron Rodgers.
Even as an experienced expert, it is certainly a special game.
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Esume:
Yes, of course.
Whenever it comes to the big games and two great players like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are on the field, it is of course a lot of fun.
Patrick Esume was a professional football player from 1992 to 2000
Source: dpa / Georg Wendt
WORLD:
Kansas City expected many experts in the Super Bowl, Tampa Bay, despite Brady, not necessarily.
Would you have bet before the season started?
Esume:
I said at the beginning of the season that they were kind of a secret favorite for me.
But I would not have bet on it.
It's really impressive that the old man is there again.
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WORLD:
How special is it that Brady and his new team are right back in the finals after 20 years in New England?
Esume:
That speaks volumes about him as an athlete in this sport.
I think Tom Brady is not just the greatest in football, but one of the greatest athletes in sports history across the board.
I think that after his tenth Super Bowl participation you can name him in the same breath as Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali.
What he has achieved has never been done before.
Coming to another team at 43, starting the season without proper preparation because of the corona pandemic and then marching into the Super Bowl: That is impressive.
You have to play well when it matters most.
That's what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are doing now at the end of the season.
WORLD:
You mention it.
Tom Brady proved against Green Bay that he still has strength in his arms.
How strong is he really still at the age of 43?
Esume:
He's definitely still strong enough compared to the young competition.
Especially in the first half you saw the qualities that define him.
His arm is still strong enough, but above all, he precisely identifies the opposing defense in front of him.
Before the move starts, he analyzes the defenders and knows in a split second where to throw the ball.
WELT:
In the second half, however, it didn't work out that well.
Esume:
You also saw, of course, that age plays a role.
Especially the last two interceptions were big bucks.
He came under pressure and did not want to be hit by the opponent under any circumstances.
It has been seen that he is no longer mobile enough to evade the pressure.
Instead, he preferred to throw the ball up and far away in the hopes that his receivers would catch it.
The worst-case scenario, what quarterback may not always think about is that the ball will just be intercepted.
You shouldn't actually do that in a game like this.
If he makes mistakes like that against Patrick Mahomes, that's 14 points for Kansas City.
WORLD:
What kind of game can you expect on Sunday?
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Esume:
I'm curious to see if Tampa Bay's top-notch defense will be able to control these Kansas City fireworks in any way.
In the regular season duel, Tyreek Hill had already made over 200 yards for the Chiefs in the first half.
Then they got their pants off.
Defending the Buccaneers is key.
It's going to be an interesting duel because Mahomes and his offensive have shown that they are in top form.
They have incredibly creative moves in their repertoire.
A duel between the generations - and a referee for the first time
One quarterback is already a legend, the other wants to become one: The duel Tom Brady (43) against Patrick Mahomes (25) is also a duel of the generations.
And: Sarah Thomas is the first referee in the Super Bowl.
Source: WELT / Steffen Schwarzkopf
WORLD:
So Tampa Bay has no chance of winning without a good defense?
Esume:
I don't know if Tampa Bay should be called an outsider.
They play at home.
There will be up to 25,000 spectators.
You don't have to travel, so you can sleep in your own beds and drive to the stadium in a relaxed manner.
That's pretty nice in a Super Bowl.
In addition, all the media hype caused by the pandemic is not taking place.
Nonetheless, Kansas City is my favorite in this game.
WORLD:
The duel between the coaches is Andy Reid against Bruce Arians.
Esume:
I would give the Kansas City Chiefs the advantage, also because they were in the Super Bowl last year.
Andy Reid and his two coordinators are very innovative in creating new moves.
They have incredibly good game plans.
But that's not to say that Bruce Arians and his team are bad coaches.
For God's sake.
There are two really good coaching teams facing each other.
"Love to play for him"
Head coach Bruce Arians faces a one-off home game at Super Bowl LV with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
His quarterback Tom Brady showered the 68-year-old with praise.
Source: Stats Perform News
WORLD:
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is 25 years old as a figurehead of the NFL.
Will he ever follow in Brady's footsteps?
Esume:
Almost he can. But the footsteps are really big.
I cannot imagine that there will be another player who has shaped a league at this level for two decades.
14 championship games, ten Super Bowls, six of which were won.
Even if Brady loses this time, I don't think it will happen again.
Mahomes has, as it stands now, the quality, plays really incredibly well.
The question is how healthy he will stay and how the structures around him will be in the future.
WORLD:
You mentioned health.
Mahomes was most recently suspected of having a concussion.
However, he trained again shortly afterwards and ultimately played against Buffalo.
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Esume:
I wasn't surprised that he played against Buffalo again.
I saw the scene and wondered what was going on.
At no point did it look like it had been a major impact on his head.
There were also voices from Kansas City that he never had symptoms of a concussion.
If the carotid artery is pinched off - and the linebacker had his arm around Mahomes' head - similar phenomena can occur.
Just getting up unsteadily, as Mahomes did.
I'm not a doctor, but it sounds plausible to me - from 30 years of football experience - that he had no symptoms.
Mahomes - "Are not satisfied with a Super Bowl"
After winning last year's Superbowl, the Kansas City Chiefs' goals are clear.
The second ring in a row is to be grabbed.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes talks about his team's hunger for success.
Source: Stats Perform News
WORLD:
In Tampa, up to 25,000 spectators should be in the stadium.
You know the USA.
Would a Super Bowl have even been conceivable without fans?
Esume:
I'm definitely surprised that they want to let 25,000 people into the stadium.
Many of them are said to have been tested, and a few thousand have even been vaccinated.
Nevertheless, it makes a strange impression when you have such numbers of infections in the population.
But that is a political decision in the US that I can classify as an outsider.
But for me it doesn't really matter to the game.
WORLD:
A long break from the season awaits after the Super Bowl.
From June, however, the ELF will play in Europe.
You are the commissioner of the new league.
Esume:
I've been tinkering with the idea for over three years.
In between it became more concrete, then it changed again.
But in the early summer of 2020 it was clear that it would now be a reality.
It took a lot of brainpower to get this league up and running.
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WORLD:
What does the project mean to you personally?
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Esume:
For me it's not about the post of commissioner.
It's about giving something back to the sport that was good for me, that did a lot for me.
I turned my passion into a job.
For me it is the best sport on the planet.
The idea was to create a league that would bring football to the stage in Europe that it deserves.
WORLD:
Why is it the best sport in the world?
Esume:
I played it myself.
I like the fascination, the mixture of the physical and the mental-tactical aspect.
It's not just eleven, brutal, fat guys running across the square, it's chess with living pieces.
The combination of brains and physique makes it for me.
WORLD:
What influence do you hope the ELF will have on German football?
Esume:
I am sure that the European League of Football will have a positive impact on European football.
I'm going to detach it from German football because it's not a German league, but rather a clear European orientation.
It finally has a European idea in it and that alone is getting bigger.
The new league will offer domestic football a completely different platform than the previous competitions.
As a result, the teams can of course make participation much more attractive financially for themselves and their partners.
The goal is to get to the point where a European football team is no longer a money-sinking machine.
It would be great if people could earn money with it in the future.
WORLD:
What is the difference to the former NFL Europe?
Esume:
The NFL Europe was an American professional league on European soil.
Mostly American players played there.
The European League of Football, on the other hand, will be a European league with predominantly European players.
The concept is basically the other way around, that's a huge difference.
Our focus is the European player.
WORLD:
With Alexander Honig, a hopeful German quarterback is now playing in college in the USA.
When do we see a German quarterback in the NFL?
Esume:
I would of course wish that we would see Alexander Honig flicker on the TV screen at ProSieben on every damn Sunday.
I think everyone in German football will keep their fingers crossed for him.
He brings everything with him, otherwise the school would not have offered him a scholarship.
Honey is tall, has a strong arm, and is a very smart guy.
He has no nonsense in his head and is very focused, based on the interaction, what I heard from him when we exchanged messages.
I'm curious what he'll do with his potential.
I am in good spirits.
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WORLD:
In the past few years, the NFL has often failed to take a stand on political or social issues.
This season, the league has for the first time clearly positioned itself to Black Lives Matter.
Is there a serious intention behind this or could those responsible simply not do otherwise?
Esume:
Whether that is a serious effort remains to be seen.
The fact is, the NFL has changed and is actually more attentive to its players than it has in the past.
In contrast, the NBA is a very player-oriented league.
The NFL, on the other hand, has always been very cautious.
But racism is not a political issue either, but a social, a human issue.
I think it's good that the league has given up its restraint and is now taking a clear stand.
From here we can only speculate how much seriousness is behind this.
But I see the effort.
WORLD:
What do players tell you that you talk to about it?
Esume:
We can all follow the process because the planet is getting smaller and smaller thanks to social media.
You get closer and closer.
There are videos from the cabin or from the field.
Of course it's an issue among players.
Many athletes, regardless of skin color or ethnic origin, spoke out in favor of equality.
It was nice to see that all the colors and shapes have fraternized.
I see this as a very positive development.