Breakdowns

9/30/21

3 min read

The Friday Five: Josh Charles

In addition to being an Emmy-nominated actor and the voice of NFL Network’s A Football Life, Josh Charles is a Baltimore Ravens super-fan. He’s currently working on the upcoming HBO limited series We Own This City, from The Wire executive producers David Simon and George Pelecanos.

We caught up with Charles for this week’s Friday Five…

  1. Who is your biggest mentor?

I don’t know if I have just one. There have been so many times in my life, both personally and professionally, where someone has helped guide me. Too many to name just one.

  1. What’s your favorite football movie?

I would probably say Rudy.

  1. Now that the Ravens have finally knocked off Patrick Mahomes, how do you see the rest of the season playing out?

Well, given the unprecedented run of injuries the team suffered in a short period of time, I was impressed with the heart and tenacity they played with against K.C. Going into the Lions game, we had even more players out due to COVID-19, and after coming out victorious in both games in dramatic fashion, it feels clear to me this is a year about overcoming adversity. In some ways it always is, but it feels even more so this year. If we can get through it, get the defense playing more consistent, I think it will be huge for us in the postseason confidence-wise. Plus: Justin Tucker.

  1. What’s your take on the NFL’s crackdown on taunting?

I have no problem with it. I honestly haven’t seen it implemented enough myself yet to grasp how different it is. I am more concerned about the consistency of the refereeing across the board. In that game against K.C., I thought many of the calls were off for both teams. The illegal man downfield call on Kevin Zeitler was particularly egregious.

  1. If you could have dinner with any three people in history, who would they be and why?

  1. My Grandfather, who I never had the privilege to meet.
  2. Robert Johnson, so he could give me the real scoop about whether he did, in fact, make a deal with the devil or not. And also so I could jam with him.
  3. John Cassavetes, so I could tell him how much I admire his films.

Check out all of our Friday Five features — including Troy Aikman, Adam Schefter, Andrea Kremer and more — in the Friday Five archive.


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