Fox Sports 1 is coming in one month with the intent on providing a legitimate challenger to ESPN for our sports viewing entertainment and information. This will be FOX's attempt to crack a dent in the sports empire, one that NBC and CBS have attempted to do over the last couple of years. Who knows what the future has in store, but what we do know is FOX is going to great lengths to get the awareness out about the new sports network, which formally launches on August 17.
This week the sports network has been getting a lot of attention for a new promo, which debuted during baseball's all-star game festivities and features a number of sports stars in all sports, including Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco and triple crown hitter Miguel Cabrera and more. College football also gets some pub with shots of a mythical game between USC and Oklahoma. The college football sequence features a Trojans receiver on the run taking a hit from a Sooner defender, sending him flipping through the air and crashing to the ground. USC head coach Lane Kiffin makes a brief appearance to encourage his players to get back at it on the field.
Of course, current college football stars would never be allowed to appear in this sort of promotional video due to NCAA rules, so the people at FS1 had to bring in a number of actors and suit them up in football uniforms and have someone work with them to ensure good techniques were being used. Ideally that means a number of actors who had some sort of football experience. As it turns out, the USC receiver in this commercial does have some college football experience behind him.
The Trojan we see in this commercial spot is former Utah State and Fresno State wide receiver Dionte' Holloway. Holloway's collegiate career was brief, with just one season at Utah State under his belt, with 10 receptions for 194 yards to show for it in 2005. Holloway's college career started at division 3 LaVerne University before transferring to Fresno State in 2003, where he played before transferring to Utah State. If you are counting, that makes four college football uniforms worn by Holloway including the USC uniform he suits up in for this ad. Not quite Nate Montana, but getting close. Holloway's career at Utah State was cut short when he was kicked off the team after being accused of smoking marijuana in his dorm room with former Aggie quarterback Jerod Walker. Walker would later appear in court to battle a charge of sexual assault.
Holloway has actually appeared in a number of commercials, although you have to look extra close to catch him in commercials for Jack in the Box, ESPN's Monday Night Football, Foot Locker and Comcast. Holloway also takes us behind the scenes with a quick take on his role in the FS1 promo.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7VOdDpzf2Gs
Kevin McGuire is the host of the No 2-Minute Warning podcast. Follow him on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.
