Joe Buck is preparing to call the 31st NFL season of his broadcasting career, and even he still gets those first day back jitters.
Buck recently joined the Charlie ‘Tuna’ and The Posse radio show on KLIS The Lou Information Station, formerly 590 The Fan in St. Louis. During the interview, Buck was asked by Charlie “Tuna” Edwards, a longtime St. Louis sports host and columnist, if he was starting to get excited about the start of the NFL season.
“I can’t wait,” Buck said without hesitation. “We got a preseason game on August 18th and I’ll be nervous on August 17th thinking about it and then we start for real at Soldier Field.”
Edwards quickly interjected to ak whether Buck, who has called 24 World Series and six Super Bowls in his career, really still gets nervous before any broadcast.
“Yeah,” Buck said. “When you haven’t done it for a while it’s like, ‘man, do I remember how to do this?’ And then two minutes into it you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I remember.’ But I haven’t worked!
“I don’t do baseball, I don’t do golf, I don’t do everything anymore. I just do football, and I haven’t done a game since last January. So, when it’s been that long of a layoff, you’re like, ‘How do I do this again?’ It will be great to see Troy, it will be great to see our crew, I can’t wait.”
Joe Buck will be calling the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders alongside Troy Aikman for ESPN on Aug. 18. And although it’s just a preseason game, it’s also a chance for Buck to shake off any rust.
So, for all you young broadcasters out there feeling nervous before a game, just know even one of the best to ever do it still gets those same jitters. But that’s a good thing! Because nerves mean you’re passionate and care about what you’re doing. And it’s cool to see how much Joe Buck still cares about his craft, even after all these years.