And not as a player.
My god, he’s a terrible announcer and it seems we’re married to him on non nationally televised games. He makes my ears bleed with his robotic AI (and often incorrect) delivery….
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He’s awful. He’s also the most predictive signal of replay review in existence. Whenever Vilma is sure of a replay outcome it will be the opposite. 100% guarantee.
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Maybe just my own impression, but I think he was decent early on but his takes the last few years are cliched and lazy. Weak sauce.
I think they like to keep PBP/color duos together primarily, which is another form of lazy.
And I’ve always thought there was another head just about to emerge from Kenny Albert’s mouth that’s he’s trying to keep down. Maybe it’s vomit from having to listen to Vilma every week.
He’s absolutely terrible and so is his partner
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I like them. 
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They are decent emcees, I will give them that. Not much else going on there though.
what about him?
He is just not good at the job. Great player - but that does not automatically translate to the booth. I almost want to wear earplugs when he is the commentator.
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I’ll take Vilma over Collingsworth every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
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I don’t think Vilma cares for the Lions. Therefore,he is terrible .
Plus he is in the Saints HOF which likely steers his bias during their games. How could it not?
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Boring
what’s crazy with these lackluster announcers is I’d bet almost all of us would give our eyeteeth to do that job. and I think a lot of us would be pretty good at it.
I will say this in general.
If you watch a ton of the NFL all the color guys tend to seem to get worse and worse. I have decided it is because the fist time you describe something interesting about a team is sounds good. But after 8 games what are you going to say that is not a retread?
Romo was fun and fresh and then he felt repetitive. And yes some guys can do it and it is for sure a skill or approach.
well romo was probably drunk
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I’m neutral
I find it amazing that a central figure of bountygate, who went to court with goodell, is allowed on broadcasts
Here’s my broad brush thought.
First off, a lot of these guys go straight from the playing field to the broadcast booth with no training or experience. For the first couple of years, they can rely on their personal experiences, film studies of opponents and combine that with their knowledge of the game to give some really unique perspectives.
However, the longer they are out of the game, the more detached they become to how the game is being played. They don’t have the knowledge of the players, coaches and schemes because their personal experiences are now outdated. It’s the natural evolution of things. I thought this especially with Romo. Remember early on, he was a savant and calling plays before they happened. That’s because he had studied the teams, their plays, their tendencies, and combined it with things he was actively doing and running just a short time ago. Fast forward a few more years, and the knowledge is now antiquated to a growing degree.
Now how do they fill those knowledge gaps? With hand typed notes coming straight from the marketing department telling them to “Say x thing, glaze x player, repeat x trope”. This is why the announcing becomes extremely repetitive. You can watch any Chiefs game, with any combination of announce teams, and they all hit on the exact same talking points. “Oh, Kelce drops the pass. He and Mahomes weren’t on the same page there, how rare is that?” Ummm, to anyone watching games? Not rare at all.
Think of it like video games. You play NHL 93. You know the players like the back of your hand, you know who plays on what team, you know how to score every time. You then are handed a copy of NHL 97. It’s still hockey, the general gameplay feels similar, but certain money plays don’t work anymore? You don’t know which players are now on which teams, and who are these new rookies? That’s what I think happens to the ex player announcers.
Vilma is older than he’s ever been?
You can say that about 90 percent of the analysis on TV.
I miss Madden. He would spend time with coaches and he could translate that discussion in either how they wanted to attack or defend teams and in a way it was easily understood on TV. The closest thing to him is Aikman IMO.
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I’d pay pretty big money to listen to Espnbaby and @KarlKaliente call Packers games. 
unfiltered, no censors.
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