ESPN tackles football in fiction series

By John Kiesewetter
Cincinnati Enquirer

When Jason Matthew Smith suited up for "Playmakers," ESPN's new scripted drama series about a fictional pro football team, it brought back vivid memories of playing high school football.

"It all came back — the smell of the tape, the practices in 100-degree heat, drinking hose water, and driving the seven-man sled (a line of pads attached to a structure that linemen use in practice)," says Smith, who plays star linebacker Eric Olczyk on ESPN's first weekly drama. It premieres 3 p.m. today and repeats at 4 p.m.

"There were times when it was pretty unreal," says Smith.

Being a football star on ESPN is pretty unreal for Smith, who moved to Hollywood 3 1/2 years ago after a stint bartending in Cincinnati. "Playmakers" is his first real shot in the big leagues, after bit parts on "ER," "Six Feet Under," "Bernie Mac" and "Hollywood Homicide."

Not only is the TV rookie in the middle of the defense, calling out assignments, and sulking at home about his paralyzing hit on a wide receiver, but he's the hulking No. 54 in the center of ESPN's "Playmakers" promotional campaign.

"It's all pretty trippy," says Smith, 30, by phone from Toronto, where the series is filmed with Omar Gooding (rookie running back Demetrius Harris), Russell Hornsby (veteran running back Leon Taylor), Chris Wiehl (quarterback Derek McConnell) and Tony Denison (head coach Mike George).

"I couldn't think of a better job than to play the killer with a conscience. On the field, he's a butt-kicker ... and off the field, you see his emotions and conscience."

The show opens with Smith as Olczyk visiting the player he paralyzed. Through voice-overs, viewers will hear the macho men's innermost fears and conceits.

"I hit this guy clean. No penalty or nothing. Coach told me it saved the game. I even got a game ball," thinks Olczyk, who will later seek out the team psychiatrist.

Explains "Playmakers" creator Jim Eisendrath, a former "Alias" and "Felicity" writer: "I wanted the audience to know what's really going on in their heads — and there is no way they'd say it out loud."

The excellent blend of on-field triumphs, and off-field tragedies — the chronic pain, exhaustion, family stress, drug addiction and job insecurity — should make "Playmakers" a hit with ESPN's hard-core audience, and its casual viewers too.