The cameras never stop recording when Nick Bellore's around. On the field, the Jets' fourth-year man continues his role as special teams leader and backup linebacker.
Off it, he's staying in the spotlight with another year serving as the co-host of "Jets Huddle," the team's Saturday late-night show on CBS 2 that takes Green & White fans underneath the helmet to get to know the Jets players.
"The first episode this year is with Sheldon Richardson, and it's awesome," Bellore told me in the locker room earlier this week. "It's not a problem getting Sheldon to open up at all. He's probably one of the best guys to interview on the team, and it was a lot of fun."
That first show airs this Saturday night at 11:35 p.m. ET and this week only will be followed immediately by "Jets Flight Plan," hosted again by Otis Livingston of CBS 2, at 12:05 a.m. Beginning next weekend, "Huddle" will air Saturday nights at 11:35 p.m. while Flight Plan moves to its regular Sunday 11:30 a.m. timeslot on Sept. 7, just in time for our regular-season opener against the Oakland Raiders.
"We changed up the format a little bit this year, so it'll be cool," Bellore said of this year's show. "It'll be a little more interactive and a little more off the field vs. on the field. It's a format that I think everyone will enjoy."
Following the player segment Saturday, Bellore will respond to questions that fans can tweet to his Twitter account, @NBELLORE54 or to **the New York Jets' page at @nyjets**. As Bellore recently tweeted:
#JETSNATION thank you for all your questions through #askajet! We will continue this all year you submit your questions using #askajet!!!! — Nick Bellore (@NBELLORE54) August 26, 2014
Bellore, the one-time free agent from Whitefish Bay, WI, and Central Michigan University, is getting more comfortable in his role chatting up his teammates for Jets Huddle.
"Talking to people is natural. When you have a camera on you, you try to get to a point where it feels like the same thing, but it takes some work," he explained. "But I enjoy talking about football and even more so learning more about my teammates and the fun stuff they might be involved with off the field. And that's what the show's goal is, to show people a different side of things besides the X's and O's."
You can check out Bellore and his "Jets Huddle" opening-night guest, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson — or as Sheldon sometimes likes to refer to himself as, "D-Roy," as in NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year — at 11:35 p.m. Saturday.
Then stay with CBS 2 for the season debut of "Jets Flight Plan" with Otis Livingston, featuring his weekly interview with head coach Rex Ryan and this week Eric Allen's interview with Pat Kirwan, the former Jets personnel man and NFL insider at CBSSports.comand on SiriusXM Radio.
