There are any number of reasons why NFL players jump into the sports media world both during and after their playing careers.
Perhaps they view it as a way to stay connected to the sport. It may be that they are motivated to dominate another profession after they’re done playing.
When it comes to Commanders running back Austin Ekeler, one of his forays into sports media was simply due to boredom.
“My Achilles was torn, so I’m not any use on the field,” Ekeler said of his stint as a pregame analyst for Netflix during the Christmas Day broadcast of Commanders-Cowboys last season. “So hey, here’s an opportunity to go and talk about my team in a positive way here on a cool stage.”
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The Netflix game was one of many instances where Ekeler has found himself in front of a camera sans helmet, pads and cleats. Throughout his 10-year career, Ekeler has been one of the most productive third-down running backs in the NFL: His 4,318 receiving yards since 2017 are the third-most by a running back in that time span.
But the 31-year-old, coming off a torn Achilles suffered last season in Week 2, is nearing the end of his career. As Ekeler contemplates what’s next, he’s positioning himself in the worlds of business, technology and — most notably — sports media.
He hasn’t yet decided exactly what he wants the next stage of his life to look like — he’s still trying to help get the 1-4-1 Commanders back to the playoffs this season — but Ekeler knows he has the basic skills to end up on your favorite sports channel.
“I don’t know if I’m good on camera, but I speak with confidence, and I have opinions on some things, and I express that,” he said.
But the story of Ekeler’s broadcasting aspirations doesn’t start in a journalism classroom or a production studio. It starts in fantasy sports.
After years of running fantasy football leagues — and as one of the top-performing fantasy running backs in the NFL — Ekeler founded his own free fantasy platform, Fantasy Royale, while recovering from Achilles surgery last year. The 12,000-user website and app is focused on building a community of the best fantasy players in the country.
To market and drive users to Fantasy Royale, he leveraged the social equity he’d built up with his nearly 560,000 followers across Instagram, Threads, X, Facebook, TikTok and Linkedin through shortform videos giving analysis on individual player performances. The videos showcase both his natural charisma and his understanding of the social media landscape — which requires posting content that people want to engage with on a consistent basis.
“That’s what our world is nowadays. It’s a blessing and a curse,” Ekeler said. “Because if you can hit the algorithms well, boom, it’s free marketing. If you can’t, you’re gonna get buried by everyone else.”
For years Ekeler has been told he should go into broadcasting following his NFL career. While he’s intrigued by the idea, it would have to be in a role that matches his positive personality and philosophy. The hot-take debate style of modern sports media doesn’t appeal to him — and neither does the toxicity that can be aimed at players from sports bettors or fantasy players upset over their performances.
“I just don’t want to be in the light talking about guys in a negative way even though that might be the situation,” he said.
Ekeler recognizes, however, that the broadcasting industry gives him the opportunity to spotlight the players who aren’t household names. Ekeler went from an undrafted rookie out of Division II Western Colorado to an All-Pro selection.
“The positive side about it is you do get to share with the world these players that are coming up, share the journey,” he said. “We need the stories to be told.”
To better prepare himself for media work, Ekeler has attended the broadcasting bootcamp the NFL puts on annually for former players, including current player-turned-analyst Jason Kelce (ESPN). A talent evaluator from the program regularly messages Ekeler notes when watching him in postgame press conferences.
Immediate feedback like that is the closest the media profession compares to football, Ekeler said. After a game or practice, players can watch film and speak with their coaches about where they excelled and where they can improve for the next game.
It’s the same for broadcasting. You can rewatch segments and speak with producers immediately after stepping off set, allowing you to adjust before your next appearance.
“If you can get [feedback] all the time and often, it’s amazing because you’re going to continue to make strides, and your standard of what good is is going to continue to get better,” Ekeler said.
But football is not over yet. Ekeler missed the rest of the 2025 season with Washington (who he signed with in 2024) recovering from the torn Achilles. Up until a few months ago, he didn’t feel like he was ready to return to the field. He’d watch film of his training sessions and not recognize the former fantasy football stud. He thought his career was over.
“I’m 31. Age is undefeated,” Ekeler said in late September. “I’m grandpa in the running back room.”
But as time went on, he felt he had more left in the tank. Ekeler re-signed with the team on Sept. 29 and immediately debuted with the team on Oct. 4 in London.
He made an immediate splash after over a year off: four carries for 29 yards (7.3 yards per carry) and one reception for 11 yards. But his usage has slipped in the two games since, playing just 10% of snaps against the Giants and 49ers. While learning a new playbook is “like learning a new language,” Ekeler said the fundamentals are all the same. A wide zone or gap scheme is the same across all playbooks. Because of the volume of plays — and the new terminology — it’s taken Ekeler a few weeks to memorize things, but he feels comfortable now.
With more time — and starter Bill Croskey-Merritt on injured reserve for the next three games — head coach Dan Quinn said he expects Ekeler’s workload to pick up.
“I feel his quickness, I feel his decisiveness,” Quinn said. “So now that he’s back, we’ll need to lean in more, and he’s able to handle a bigger workload now.
Ekeler is interested in one day being on television, but as Washington fights to keep its slim playoff hopes alive, he’s more concerned about his day job.
“I like those types of opportunities because it’s a one and done,” he said of the Netflix job. “I’m not ready to go full on broadcaster because … it’s homework nonstop, knowing stories, keeping up. I’m not ready for that yet.”
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