Why NBC Should Be Ashamed of Notre Dame-Texas A&M Broadcast

NBC has broadcast Notre Dame home games since 1991 and very few have been as compelling as Saturday night's Texas A&M comeback victory over the Fighting Irish. However, perhaps no moment during those 35 seasons has been broadcast as pathetically as part of Saturday's game.

While Texas A&M was driving to score the game-winning touchdown and extra point, the NBC telecast couldn't help itself in finding a scape goat.

NBC's Coverage of Tyler Buchner Was Pathetic

When Notre Dame scored to take the lead with just under three minutes to play, holder Tyler Buchner dropped the snap on the extra point, and the Irish walked away with a six-point lead instead of seven.

From almost the second the following Texas A&M drive began, NBC was all about pointing out Buchner's error.

It being a Notre Dame player or not that makes the mistake Buchner did, it doesn't matter. The repeated shots of Buchner on the sideline while play-by-play voice Noah Eagle kept reminding the audience of Buchner's blunder was flat-out disrespectful. It was like the NBC team was begging fans to start attacking Buchner on social media with the way they presented things.

Sure, times are different and college athletes are able to make money from their craft these days but the core remains the same. These are college student-athletes and aren't professionals. The mockery the broadcast crew decided to repeatedly make of Buchner was nothing short of pathetic.

Yeah, he made a mistake. You can mention that the lost extra point could be costly, but why are you shoving Buchner's look on the sideline down all of our throats? You're simply choosing to spit in the face of a player who's been nothing but a stand-up young man during his college career.

Tyler Buchner's Career Arc

Buchner came to Notre Dame in the 2021 recruiting class as the crown jewel of Fighting Irish commitments. He might not have been rated as high as CJ Carr wound up being a few years later, but the hype and excitement around Buchner was very real.

After getting playing time in a largely running role as a true freshman, Buchner won the starting job entering his sophomore year. After a rough start against Ohio State, Buchner was hurt in what wound up being a loss to Marshall in Week 2 and missed the remainder of the regular season. He did return to capture the Gator Bowl MVP in Notre Dame's victory over South Carolina to close the year, though.

Tyler Buchner after winning gmae MVP in the 2022 Gator Bow — Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Tyler Buchner (12) walks away from the awards ceremony with his MVP game trophy after Friday might's victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks. The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish took on the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl game in Jacksonville, Florida's TIAA Bank Field Friday, December 30, 2022. The first half ended with South Carolina holding a 24 to 17 lead but Notre Dame came back and with a late fourth quarter | Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

Buchner decided to follow former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to Alabama in 2023, following the entry of transfer quarterback Sam Hartman. After things didn't work out there though, Buchner didn't go looking for another starting job elsewhere.

He instead chose to return to Notre Dame, where he joined the lacrosse team and walked back onto the football team. After spending last season as a reserve wide receiver, Buchner switched back to being a backup quarterback this season.

Marcus Freeman on Tyler Buchner: “He said, ‘Coach, all I want to do is help this football program. Whatever I can do, whatever you guys ask me to do, I’ll do it.’”

That’s equated to tossing balls to Notre Dame wide receivers in fall camp.

TB26, still slinging ‘em in South Bend. pic.twitter.com/Do9SEt9iN1
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) August 18, 2024

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

For years, I worked in sports radio and was willing to call out the scapegoats and players and coaches behind losses by Chicago's teams.

Looking back, I don't love some of those rants I had, but they were never geared towards a college athlete. They were done towards a professional athlete or coach who was making a boatload of money to perform.

Never towards a young man like Tyler Buchner, who perfectly showcases what it means to be a student-athlete.

Maybe it's me being a dad now and seeing someone's kid know he messed up, and getting thrown to wolves by the TV crew. I hated seeing that, though. Every second of it, and had it been a Texas A&M player I'd say the same thing.

Yeah, he made a mistake just like we all do. We all saw it with our own eyes.

Noah Eagle repeatedly calling out his name for it, and "the guys in the truck" on the NBC broadcast Saturday should be embarrassed by their choice in the moment. There was a way to acknowledge it and not bury Buchner, but they instead brought out their figurative shovels and buried the young man.

NBC pays a significant amount each year to broadcast college football games, but chose to flat-out bury Tyler Buchner the very first moment it could.

P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C.

I really hope behind the scenes that NBC reaches out to Buchner this week and apologizes for how it presented things Saturday night. Buchner's error didn't help, but NBC made it seem like he was the only reason Notre Dame lost.