Forever a ‘football player,’ former UK star Randall Cobb is transitioning to television

When Randall Cobb was a freshman football player at Kentucky in 2008, offensive coordinator Joker Phillips issued a declarative statement about the Tennessee native. Some people play football. Others are football players. Said Phillips, Randall Cobb is a football player.

Now, 16 years later, Cobb is a (likely) former football player who has embarked on his second career, sharing his expertise about football as a studio analyst for the SEC Network.

“I’ve always been interested in broadcasting,” Cobb said last week. “Throughout my career, I would go and do interviews. You know, obviously at Super Bowl, they always have a video role and sometimes with different brands, and I’d go and do some interviewing myself on the red carpets of NFL Honors and different events, ESPYS and those kind of things. I was really interested in it.”

So when it appeared his 13-year NFL career had come to an end, the 34-year-old reached out to ESPN about the possibility of working for the network. The interest was mutual.

“I thought that as of right now, just just being able to get in studio and figure out how to make my points a little quicker,” Cobb said. “We’ll see what happens as we continue to move forward.”

Has the work been harder or easier than he thought?

“It’s definitely a little harder than I initially thought,” Cobb said. “I think it’s just being able to condense everything that you say, right? Because I have so many points that I want to make, but able to do it in a timely manner.”

It’s a natural fit. After all, Cobb played in the SEC. As a quarterback/wide receiver at UK, he was always a great interview, thoughtful and candid while also displaying a sense of humor.

Couple that with his experience in the NFL, where Cobb played wide receiver eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers (2011-18) and one each with the Dallas Cowboys (2019) and Houston Texans (2020) before returning to Green Bay (2021-22). He played last year with the New York Jets, though without his close friend Aaron Rodgers, who tore his Achilles in the season opener. Career stats: 630 receptions for 7,624 yards and 54 touchdowns.

“(Playing the game) definitely helped me a lot, because I can just see it through a different lens,” Cobb said. “I’m able to assess different situations a little differently as a player. (But) it’s definitely a different landscape. And I think the biggest thing, is just all the transition with the transfer portal for different kids coming in and the coaching changes. So just trying to get up to date and catch up on that as fast as I can.”

Cobb is living in Nashville with wife Aiyda and his three sons Caspian (6), Cade (4) and Chance (6 months). “That’s my number one job right now,” he said.

New job number two has allowed him to pay closer attention to his alma mater.

“To see the way that they came out against Georgia was very uplifting,” he said of the Wildcats. “I’m excited for the program. I think Coach (Mark) Stoops has done a great job with filling the roster and getting a lot of talent there. And I just love the hard-nosed football they play. And I was just excited that they got back to that, the physicality that they showed against Georgia.”

After a long career in the NFL, he’s also glad to be associated with the college game again.

“I’ve loved being back and just seeing the style of football, because the college product and the NFL product are so different,” he said. “I’ve just been so immersed in the NFL product for so long, that I’m just getting back to understanding the game flow. The talent is there, it’s just a different game.

“I’ve really enjoyed just remembering how much the rivalries mean to the fans. Being back in Nashville and seeing my kids, parents at school that are representing Ole Miss and Alabama and all the schools here.”

Randall Cobb is still the football player, just in a different role.

“I just love the fact that this allows me to stay around the game.”

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