A college internship with the State College Spikes sparked Nick Rotondi’s love for sports media and landed him a job on the Philadelphia Eagles’ production team. In his nearly decadelong tenure with the Eagles, Rotondi ’10 Com worked on everything from “Hype Day” content, capturing the photos and videos of players that would appear on the team’s social media throughout the season, to catching “mic’d up” moments of players and coaches on game day—and has grown to love telling football players’ stories.  

“Having the players mic’d up and listening to them is always my favorite thing,” Rotondi says. “Every game, you’re hearing the things that no one else hears between players and coaches, hearing what’s going on live in the moment. You hear every single word.”

Since transitioning to a freelance role with NFL Films in 2022, Rotondi—whose career has taken him to nearly every NFL stadium—has worked primarily on Hard Knocks, the company’s documentary television series. In each of the previous two seasons covering the New York Giants and the Baltimore Ravens, respectively, Rotondi was in charge of the robotic cameras that captured behind-the-scenes footage of the teams’ day-to-day operations. He controlled 14 to 17 cameras in up to 10 different rooms on a joystick, zooming in to all different kinds of conversations between players.

Rotondi’s freelance clients include ESPN, for which he recently wrapped up a shoot with Metallica that will air in the fall, interviewing them about their May concert at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium and the university’s longstanding tradition of playing the band’s song “Enter Sandman” before games. He’ll also work on the next version of Hard Knocks: In Season, which will likely take him full circle back to the Eagles. —Madeline Marriott