Mike Carlson is the regular pundit of National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 (NFL) coverage for the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 TV station, having formerly worked on Channel Five's coverage of the sport from 1998-2010. He is originally from Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, USA.

Career

Carlson played tight end

Tight end

The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...

 at Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

 from 1968 to 1972. After moving to the UK in 1977, Carlson worked as a sports editor for the television news agency UPITN before joining ABC Sports as their director of programming in Europe. Later he became Vice-President of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an operations for Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 before beginning his freelance career. In 1991 he teamed up with Nick Halling

Nick Halling

Nick Halling is a British sports broadcaster and journalist. He is a boxing commentator for Sky Sports and presented their American football for 15 years, as well as ice hockey, ten-pin bowling and numerous other events....

 to cover Major League Baseball for defunct satellite station Screensport

Screensport

Screensport was a pan-European sports television channel. The network was launched as a stand-alone channel in Manchester on 29th March 1984 and later acquired by the WH Smith Television Group in 1987...

, a partnership which continued with the World League of American Football, and during the early years of the league's successor, NFL Europe

NFL Europe

NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...

, on Sky Sports

Sky Sports

Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

.

In 1994, Carlson left Major League Baseball and became a freelance journalist. He reviews books and film, and wrote three books in the Pocket Essentials series, on the film directors Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, and Oliver Stone. He also writes obituaries for The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 and The Independent

The Independent

The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

 and on sport for a number of outlets, including NFLUK.com. On screen he has also appeared occasionally as a baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 pundit on MLB on Five

MLB on Five

MLB on Five was a sports television programme on the British Five Network featuring live coverage of Major League Baseball games. It was usually broadcast on Sunday and Wednesday nights...

 hosted by Jonny Gould

Jonny Gould (game show presenter)

Jonathan Gould , often known as Jonny Gould, is a British television presenter who was the host of the UK baseball show MLB on Five from 1997 until it was cancelled in 2008...

, a sport he previously presented on Sky Sports

Sky Sports

Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

 in the mid 1990s. He also wrote the Channel Five Guide To Baseball. He has covered a variety of other sports on television including Basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, Poker

Poker

Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

, Soccer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

, and Lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

. He has worked behind the scenes on the television coverage of both Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 and FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 tournaments. In 2000, he and Mark Webster provided commentary for the Meridan TV and ITV2 series Trans-Atlantic Wrestling Challenge. On May 21, 2011, Carlson "will call all the action from the Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium

Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium

Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium also known as Amri der zigger sko fra Stadium is a multi–use stadium in Arusha, Tanzania. It is currently used mostly for football matches and serves as the home venue for Arusha FC. The stadium was the host of the 2011 Kilimanjaro Bowl, the first American...

 in Arusha

Arusha

Arusha is a city in northern Tanzania. It is the capital of the Arusha Region, which claims a population of 1,288,088, including 281,608 for the Arusha District . Arusha is surrounded by some of Africa's most famous landscapes and national parks...

 when Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

 hosts the first game of college American Football to be played on the African continent." He has returned to Channel 4 to provide commentary for the 2011-12 NFL season and co-hosts the American sports podcast

Podcast

A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

 Americarnage with Nat Coombs

Nat Coombs

Nathaniel 'Nat' Coombs is a British television & radio presenter & writer.-Education:Coombs was educated at the boys' independent school Dulwich College in Dulwich, South London, and at University College London.-Television and Radio:...

 and Dan Louw.

NFL

In 1998 the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 terrestrial TV station Channel 5 began covering Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

 for which Mike has been the regular analyst since the start. Currently he presents coverage on Channel 4 alongside co-host Danny Kelly

Danny Kelly (journalist)

Danny Kelly is a music journalist, sports presenter and internet publisher. He is the former editor of the music weekly New Musical Express....

 and also worked with former hosts Nat Coombs

Nat Coombs

Nathaniel 'Nat' Coombs is a British television & radio presenter & writer.-Education:Coombs was educated at the boys' independent school Dulwich College in Dulwich, South London, and at University College London.-Television and Radio:...

, Martin Bayfield

Martin Bayfield

Martin Christopher Bayfield is an English former rugby union footballer who played lock forward for Northampton Saints, Bedford Blues and England, gaining 31 England and 3 Lions caps.Bayfield was born in Bedford...

, Josh Chetwynd

Josh Chetwynd

Joshua Stephen Chetwynd is a journalist, broadcaster, author and former baseball player.-Journalism:Chetwynd has worked as a staff reporter for USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter and U.S. News & World Report...

 , Mark Webster, Simon Golding, and Colin Murray

Colin Murray

Colin Murray is a Northern Irish sports and music radio and television presenter. He is the current host of the BBC Television show Match of the Day 2 on BBC Two, and the BBC Radio 5 Live shows 5 Live Sport and Fighting Talk, as well as a show on BBC Radio Ulster. He has previously hosted regular...

 during his time on Channel 5. He contributed to now-defunct weekly American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 newspaper First Down and covered NFL Europe for NFL.com, Pro Football Weekly, the International Herald Tribune, and for a couple of seasons, The Guardian.

Carlson developed a few strange "catchphrases" during his commentary of NFL highlights broadcast during gaps in the live game, -including a list of alternative names for stadia and teams e.g. Arizona Crads (half-Card, half crap), Newark Airport Jets & New Jersey Giants, "he couldn't be more alone if he was..." for touchdowns scored by players with nobody around them, with the punchline usually involving a celebrity or famous figure that has been caught with their trousers down, to making special note of anyone involved named "Nate", the name of his son. He often refers to player Torry Holt

Torry Holt

After injuring his knee at the Senior Bowl, Holt, at 192 pounds, ran a 4.44 second 40-yard dash and had a vertical jump of 37 inches at the 1999 NFL Combine-St. Louis Rams:...

 as "The Torry You Can Support" - a jibe at the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

's recent misfortunes in UK politics (they are known as the Tories). He also refers to Reggie Bush

Reggie Bush

Reginald Alfred "Reggie" Bush II is an American football running back for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft...

 as "The Bush you can support" - a jibe at George W. Bush. Another common catchphrase is "and that pass was high, but not in the Ricky Williams

Ricky Williams

Errick Lynne "Ricky" Williams, Jr. is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints fifth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft...

 sense," referring to the player's use of marijuana. He developed a fictional award named "Trent of the Week" for the best player in the week's games named Trent. Some of Mike's more elaborate comedic moments involved complex re-wordings of The Raven

The Raven

"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness...

 during a rough patch for the Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

, and singing a re-lyricised version of John Brown's Body

John Brown's Body

"John Brown's Body" is an American marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The tune arose out of the folk hymn tradition of the American camp meeting movement of the 19th century...

 - entitled Jeff George

Jeff George

Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" George is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts with the first overall pick of the 1990 NFL Draft...

 Is Marching On.

Carlson was one of the analysts for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's inaugural coverage of the Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 in February 2008, hosted by Jake Humphrey

Jake Humphrey

Jacob John "Jake" Humphrey is an English television presenter, currently best known for his work with BBC Sport, being the youngest ever presenter to host Football Focus, Match of the Day and Final Score. He currently presents the BBC's Formula One coverage and BBC Sports Personality of the Year...

, with Rod Woodson as his partner. He returned to analyse for the BBC during their first live regular season game at Wembley

Wembley Stadium

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

 in October 2008, with Jerry Rice

Jerry Rice

Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...

, again at Super Bowl XLIII

Super Bowl XLIII

Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League champion for the 2008 season. The game was played on February 1, 2009,...

, with Rod Woodson

Rod Woodson

Roderick Kevin "Rod" Woodson is the current cornerbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He is also a former defensive back best known for his 10-year stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as being a key member of the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl XXXV championship...

, and briefly during the recorded highlights of the 2009 Wembley match. He has also appeared on BBC Sport's "American Football" program showing highlights of the playoffs during the 2009/10 season.

On 6 September 2010 it was announced that Carlson would present Sunday Night Football for the 2010 season on the UK's Channel 4, alongside Gary Imlach

Gary Imlach

Gary Imlach is a British author, journalist and broadcaster, specialising in sport. Imlach is particularly associated with non-mainstream sports, working for many years as the face of Channel 4's coverage of American Football and the Tour de France, having transferred to ITV when the station...

.. His co-host is now Danny Kelly.

Personal

Carlson is married to the author Kirsten Ellis and they have a son, Nathaniel. In addition he is a published poet, and is known for his love for professional wrestling

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

.