Background and career
Kyle Robert Brandt (born January 24, 1979) is an American television host, media personality, and actor. He is one of the hosts of Good Morning Football on NFL Network. He was executive producer of The Jim Rome Show from 2009 until 2016. Before that he played Philip Kiriakis on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives and was part of the cast of The Real World: Chicago on MTV. He was also a host on the game show Frogger.
Brandt attended Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago and graduated in 1997. He was the school's all-time leading rusher playing football. He attended Princeton University and was a three-year starter at running back and kick returner there. While the president of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, he became interested in acting and entertainment. He participated in local theater and acted in numerous plays on campus. He wrote his senior thesis on the creative process of adapting books into films. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in English.
During the spring of 2001, Brandt was selected from more than 50,000 applicants to be a cast member on MTV's The Real World: Chicago, the 11th season of The Real World. During the show, he and his castmates worked as lifeguards on North Avenue Beach. After the show, Brandt moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
From 2003 to 2006, Brandt portrayed Philip Kiriakis on the soap opera, Days of Our Lives. As a U.S. Marine, Kiriakis' storylines included saving his girlfriend from mercenaries, as well as being tortured as a POW and losing his leg in battle.
In 2007, Brandt became a producer and writer on the nationally syndicated radio show, The Jim Rome Show, hosted by Jim Rome. In 2009, he became executive producer of the show and in 2011 he began regularly hosting as a fill-in host. He has interviewed Peyton Manning, Troy Polamalu, Dana White, Vince Vaughn, Adam Carolla, Rob Riggle, and others. Brandt's final day on the program was on July 22, 2016. Then he joined NFL Network's revamped morning show.
From 2013 to 2015, Brandt regularly appeared on Jim Rome's daily television show on CBS Sports Network, Rome. He hosted a segment every Friday called "The Sixer" previewing the upcoming weekend in sports, entertainment, and covering lifestyle stories. On Halloween of 2014, Brandt guest hosted a special edition of Rome, doing the show from the perspective of Han Solo. From 2012 to 2015, Brandt was a producer and writer for Jim Rome on Showtime until it was canceled in 2015.
