Josh Elliott Will Be Making His "Today" Debut Soon

Courtesy of THR

Hidden in the New York Times' article about advertisers who will be launching campaigns coinciding with the start of the NFL season is a new partnership being forged between the NFL and "The Today Show"

(The NFL) is announcing a partnership with NBC’s “Today” show for weekly fan-focused segments carrying the theme “Together we make football,” which will be produced by N.F.L. Films and narrated by Josh Elliott of the NBC Sports Group.

The "Together We Make Football" campaign has been in existence since 2013. The campaign gives fans a chance to share their stories of why they love the game of football. Fans can submit their story through audio, video and/or text to TogetherWeMakeFootball.com and all stories submitted to the site through October 21st will be entered into a contest, with the winners receiving a trip to the Super Bowl in Arizona on February 2015 (which will air on NBC).

Six finalists will be chosen by NFL Films, who will produce their stories in the unique and dramatic format which they're best known for. The NFL Films-produced features will then be presented during "The Today Show" by Josh Elliott during the month of December. The two winning storytellers will be announced during the NFL Playoffs (presumably during coverage of NBC's wild card or divisional playoff game) and will be featured in an NFL Films special on NBC which will most likely air during Super Bowl weekend.

This initiative is one of many projects which NFL Films is working on. They've recently revamped "NFL Films Presents" by adding Joe Buck to the fray as host and moving the show to Fox Sports 1. NFL Films will also be involved with the production of a brand new countdown show for Nickelodeon and will continue to power "Inside the NFL," which will now air on NFL Network with clips on NFL.com and NFL Now in addition to Showtime.

Speaking of NFL Now, two new unscripted series produced by NFL Films about how the New York Giants scout players ("Finding Giants) and how players fresh out of college prepare for their NFL tryout ("Undrafted") will air on the over-the-top network.

Josh Elliott has recently hosted the Youth Olympics on NBCSN, narrated a Golf Channel documentary, contributed interviews/features stories to Sunday Night Football's preseason games, hosted The Players Championship golf tournament and has reported during NBC's coverage of Triple Crown horse racing.

Although it is now clear that Elliott is unlikely to replace Matt Lauer anytime soon, it'll still be jarring to see him on the show he fiercely competed against for so long......and might I add, beat.

Sources: NFL, NYT

SIDENOTE: "Today" is not the first morning show to implement sports into their telecast lately. "GMA" has added Michael Strahan as a host, will be adding ESPN's Tony Reali and Lindsay Czarniak soon according to reports, showcases some of Robin Roberts' interviews for ESPNW, and will be teaming up with ESPN for a year long initiative.