NBC Snubs Ozzy Osbourne NFL Halftime Show

The NFL's 2022-23 season opener featured Ozzy Osbourne. Not that any of us outside the stadium got to see him ...

Ozzy was not only the halftime entertainer, he was one of the few hard rock/metal performers the NFL has ever used.

Despite advertising the performance ... not to mention it being Ozzy's first live appearance in 3 or 4 years ... cameras quickly cut away to a lame sideline interview after showing only a few seconds of his performance.

The 73 year old rock legend performed for about 10 minutes, belting out his latest song, Patient #9, and the classic Crazy Train. For Patient #9, the band consisted of Tommy Clufetos on drums, bassist Chris Chaney and Andrew Watt on guitar.

For Ozzy's anthem, Crazy Train, the Prince of Darkness was joined by his old friend and longtime co-writer and guitarist Zakk Wylde. It is so cool to see those two work together again. It would have been a lot cooler to see it happen live though.

Regular season halftime shows are not usually too glamorous. They save the really big names for the season opener, some playoff/championship games and, of course, the Super Bowl.

Seeing a full on rock LEGEND do his thing was an unexpected and very cool surprise. However, the powers that be decided it was more important to show a sideline reporter talk to people, most fans and rockers alike couldn't identify, about things we'd just seen.

I think it was a stupid decision but, then again, I'm a huge Ozzy fan so maybe I'm prejudiced. I asked a few Local Locos what they thought:

Johnny Salas/King Octopus: I felt the NFL chose extremely poorly in airing an atypical interview instead of genuine entertainment in this case. Instead of taking advantage of a genuine rock legend to keep the audience engaged,... and setting the mood for a truly rocking season ... they opted to give everyone what basically amounted to a bathroom break. Total fumble by whoever made that call ... they had Ozzy there for a reason. Unfortunately, only a select few got to see it happen.

Chris Headcase/Epitaph Romance - Still I Stand: It's a travesty that rock, in all its sub-categories, is shunned from sports and award performances in favor of "processed" acts who rely on electronics, special effects and sex as opposed to actually performing. All the while, the music of these rock stars is perfectly acceptable to use as a tool to sell every product that requires more "edge".

Bernie Esparza/Middle Fingers Unfold: Cutting off a legend like that was a low blow. Especially given his recent health issues which must have made this show much more difficult to pull off than others. He and his fans should have been respected by holding the chatter until he finished.

Lincoln Gier/Bloody Elephante: Pissed me off for sure. They used Ozzy's name to hype up the game yet showed hardly any of it. That's BS ... we're talking about a living legend. The Elvis Presley of hard rock/heavy metal. He won't be around forever and he deserved that moment. Were they afraid little old Ozzy would steal the show? He did regardless.. Rock and metal fans have been pushed further and further aside. That tide will turn though ... they can't keep us under their thumb forever.

Mike Arroyos/F-Bombs: I think NBC messed up. They literally talk stats before, during and after the game. They could have showed Ozzy and people STILL would have been made aware of the game stats.

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Ozzy and Zakk are not strangers to NFL gigs. In fact they did Crazy Train ... a song the NFL and just about every other sporting organization uses regularly to rile up the crowd ... in 2005 at the season opener for my favorite NFL team, The New England Patriots.

That time they were given the attention and respect they deserve.

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