Quarterback
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Athlete Storytelling
- Best Documentary: Long-Form
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
Quarterback offered a never-before-seen look into the lives of NFL greats, spotlighting all aspects of their careers and daily lives as some of the nation’s favorite professional athletes. The first-ever collaboration between the NFL and Netflix, the documentary broke completely new ground in production capabilities and athlete-led storytelling.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
This project marks a major milestone in Omaha Productions’ capability to produce long-form, unscripted documentary content and pushes the medium of sports television to new heights. Quarterback represents that content has the power to engage audiences no matter who they cheer for.
A look this closely behind the scenes has never been done before and represents the belief at the core of Omaha Productions’ mission: that sports stories are human stories, and they are worth telling. Peyton made a personal promise to do right by each quarterback in the project and made good on his promise. To put it lightly, there is no competitor or similar program out there that can make those promises a reality in the way Peyton Manning can and did.
A good example of the Omaha team’s endless pursuit of excellence is their spinning the program into a full Hollywood premiere. Headlines dubbed it the “sports media event of the summer,” where industry heavyweights, celebrities, and of course, quarterbacks, showed up to promote the show. News and social media marveled at all the premiere trimmings, and attendees included sports stars like Shannon Sharpe and Travis Kelce, and NFL celebrity fans like Heidi Gardner and Henry Winkler.
Objective
Quarterback has long been a passion project for Omaha Productions creator Peyton Manning, who founded the production company in 2020 with the show in mind.
It was a priority for Peyton and the team at Omaha Productions to tell a full story, not pulling any punches. While programs like Hard Knocks or Drive to Survive pull off similar storylines, Peyton was clear the piece should zoom out more, and tell the complete story of the position. While one team wins the league at the end of the season and gets a parade, Peyton acknowledges there are 31 other teams working just as hard who go through just as much and deserve to have their story told.
Manning’s mission was at the core of this project. In his negotiations with the potential quarterbacks, he emphasized the importance of having something for their children to one day remember them by, a concrete, visual representation of the hard work they each do for their families and teams.
Strategy & Execution
There has never been a project of this scale or depth in the NFL. Thanks to an incredible partnership with NFL Films, the Omaha Productions team had unparalleled access to game footage, without which this project would not have been possible. Quarterback also follows the players along at home and off the field, giving a complete 360-degree view of daily life as a quarterback. The show represents a landmark deal for Omaha Productions, the NFL, and Netflix.
This is the first program of its kind with this level of access, utilizing both in-game coverage and behind-the-scenes footage of some of the biggest stars in the NFL to tell a cohesive, compelling story: Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota. The filming for the show tracked the players not just in-game, not just in meetings, not just in the locker room, but at home, as well, and in Mahomes’ case, from the start of his season to the Super Bowl. Paramount to Peyton’s vision for the show, the camera follows the players doing the hard work before their time in the limelight every Sunday, whether it’s observing team training firsthand or catching Kirk Cousins’ wife quizzing him on his plays.
Organizations
- Omaha Praoductions
- NFL Films
- Netflix
Links
Featured
- Patrick Mahomes
- Kirk Cousins
- Marcus Mariota
Credits
Kelly Rafferty
Director of Current Series
Omaha Productions
Sam Pepper
Head of Current Series
Omaha Productions
Tim Brown
Head of Original Content
Omaha Productions
Ryan Condon
Producer
Omaha Productions
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
