Colton Underwood on Bachelor, Bears and Antonio Brown

Colton Underwood talks Yahoo! Sports, football fandom and whether The Bachelor could see 100 seasons.

You may know him from The Bachelor, but Colton Underwood has a sneaky legit history with the NFL. Just five years ago, he signed to the Chargers as a free agent and was on the practice squad for the Raiders and Eagles. Now, after one season on The Bachelorette and another finding a future with Cassie Randolph as the bachelor, he’s partnering with Yahoo! Sports to promote the official NFL livestream partner.

Colton talked to FanSided before kick off Thursday night about partnering with Yahoo! Sports, Antonio Brown and rooting for the Bears.

FanSided (Ashley Young): We are kicking off tonight, the 100th season of the NFL, and Colton, this season, you’re teaming up with Yahoo! Sports. What initiatives are you working on with them over there?

Colton Underwood: I think the best thing about Yahoo! Sports for me is having their app on my phone, I can watch NFL games wherever I’m at. And in today’s society, we’re always on the go. I’m especially traveling and all over the place. So the fact that I could pick up my phone and watch an NFL game is absolutely amazing. On top of that, it’s just sort of all-access for any fan, any NFL fan that just needs all the information at their fingertips. So it’s great.

And you spent some time in the league yourself. And over in Oakland. I don’t know if you saw the news today, but Antonio Brown is just living for the drama. What are your thoughts on that situation?

Well, I said this when I was even playing, I feel like the NFL is slowly becoming an entertainment business. And for Antonio, I feel like we’re watching an episode of like your soap opera, your drama series. Now, you know, whether it’s a distraction to the team, we don’t really know because we’re not inside those locker rooms. But I can’t imagine a lot of the players being very happy with the antics going on.

It has been a roller coaster, and selfishly I do enjoy the drama.

I know!

You can’t help it. You’re like, all right, this is kind of entertaining. But you are coming from the world of reality TV, you know, the drama and the entertainment. Could you ever see The Bachelor celebrating 100 seasons?

Oh, easily! I think The Bachelor is like America’s guilty pleasure. And I don’t see it going anywhere, anytime soon. The best part about it is just real people that are putting themselves out there. Of course, there are situations that are unrealistic, like the bungee jumping in Singapore, the traveling to Thailand and all those great locations. But I think just the reality and the realness of the show is what makes it successful and what’s going to keep it around for a long time.

The Bachelor has been around — I did not know this — for 23 seasons, I believe, so we’ve got some time before we catch up to 100. What’s your NFL team? Who are you a fan of?

I slowly became fans of players but I grew up I was born in Indianapolis so I grew up a Colts fan and a Peyton Manning fan, which then slowly trickled me to the Giants with Eli. But I slowly became a fan of players. And I’m really excited to watch Khalil Mack in his debut with the Bears — well, his second year with the with the Bears, but their debut against the Packers. So I’m looking forward to it.

We’re actually based in Chicago so the city has been electric today, everyone’s running around in their bears gear. Do you have any predictions for the game?

I have the Bears in this one. I know the city of Chicago. I grew up in Illinois in Peoria, so central Illinois. And I know how passionate those fans are and how bad they want a Super Bowl. So I’m rooting for the Bears this year.

And how are you celebrating watching the game tonight?

I’m actually with my Yahoo! Sports family here. And I’m going to be watching it on my cell phone, having some with drinks with some friends and having a good time here in New York.

And for people that want to download the app, where can they go to find that?

Just the App Store, go to Yahoo! Sports. And like I said, the great thing about the app is it’s so diverse and what you can what you can do with it. Obviously, you can watch the game but also you have so much more tools, including even their fantasy league on top on it.

All right, Colton, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us and enjoy the game tonight.

Yep! Thank you, you too!