The great NFL broadcasting carousel of the 2022 offseason has almost come to a stop, with only Fox’s No. 1 analyst alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt still to be resolved.
ESPN officially announced its new Monday Night Football team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, a seismic move in sports media. Amazon soon followed by introducing the crew for its upcoming Thursday Night Football broadcast, Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit.
And while there wasn’t an official introduction directly from NBC, plenty of outlets — including Deadline, Variety, and the Hollywood Reporter — were given the announcement that Mike Tirico is taking over the Sunday Night Football play-by-play chair alongside incumbent analyst Cris Collinsworth.
The news was a formality, really. It was widely presumed that Tirico would step into that role. It’s essentially why NBC hired Tirico from ESPN, to eventually succeed Michaels on TV’s No. 1 primetime broadcast.
Nonetheless, Collinsworth took the opportunity last week to pay tribute and say goodbye to his longtime broadcast partner with a quick clip of something viewers have come to know and love to begin the SNF telecast: The “Collinsworth Slide.”
“Come slide in here one more time,” said Michaels to Collinsworth, who rolled his chair into frame for the customary two-shot to introduce the telecast and set up the Super Bowl LVI clash between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams.
That was their final broadcast together after 13 years calling NFL games for NBC, the last time Collinsworth would slide over to Michaels on camera.
“It started off as the dumbest thing ever,” Collinsworth explained to Pardon My Take in 2020. “They would put a mark down and say put one leg on either side of the mark… Well, Al opens the show by himself. He’s done it forever. It’s Al Michaels and America in a one-on-one, sort of bonding exercise that he does.
“So in order to do the one-on-one, they said ‘Cris, you gotta get out of the shot.’ I was like, OK, what do you want me to do? You want me to put my legs between the mark on the thing or do you want me in the shot? ‘Well, just lean out.’ Just lean out and give Al some room so he can do his thing… How it became a thing, I have no idea.”
Now, Collinsworth will be sliding over to join Tirico in the frame. Kirk Herbstreit wouldn’t dare try to emulate the slide on Thursday Night Football, would he? Even Michaels might have something to say about that.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
Devin McCourty Joining Football Night in America on NBC
“I’m very grateful for this opportunity from NBC Sports to learn from great individuals, chase new goals and provide viewers with my thoughts on the biggest games every week.”
NBC Sports has enhanced its roster of football analysts with the signing of Devin McCourty. He will join the cast of Football Night in America leading up to each week’s broadcast of Sunday Night Football.
McCourty is a three-time Super Bowl champion and played his entire 13-year career as a defensive back with the New England Patriots, and has the record for most career playoff games started by a defensive player.
“It’s rare when you have the opportunity to add a three-time Super Bowl-winner to your team, and we’re excited to welcome Devin McCourty to Football Night following an incredible NFL career,” said Sam Flood, executive producer and president of production at NBC Sports. “Devin is a leader in every sense of the word, both on and off the field, and his dynamic personality and passion for the game will be a great addition to the show.”
McCourty’s twin brother, Jason, currently works on the cast of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, and the two co-hosted a podcast together while playing called Double Coverage. Devin was a guest host on Good Morning Football earlier in the season and also contributed to pregame coverage on The NFL Today and NFL Draft content for CBS Sports.
“I’m excited to be a rookie on the best team in America again,” McCourty said in a statement. “I’m very grateful for this opportunity from NBC Sports to learn from great individuals, chase new goals and provide viewers with my thoughts on the biggest games every week.”
Glen Kuiper is out as the television voice of the Oakland A’s. The team and NBC Sports California made the announcement yesterday following an internal review of an incident on air earlier this month in which the broadcaster appeared the say the n-word on accident.
“Following an internal review, the decision has been made for NBC Sports California to end its relationship with Glen Kuiper, effective immediately,” a spokesperson from the regional sports network said in a statement. “We thank Glen for his dedication to Bay Area baseball over the years.”
Kuiper issued a statement of his own, affirming that what people are calling a racial slur was actually “a very unfortunate mispronunciation.” He said that he was talking to fast in describing a day at the Negro League Museum in Kansas City.
“Please know that racism is in no way a part of me; it never has been and it never will be,” he wrote in a statement shared with reporters. “I appreciate the Negro League Museum president Bob Kendrick and Oakland A’s great Dave Stewart’s public support of me in light of this. I am an honest, caring, kind, honorable, respectful husband and father who would never utter a disparaging word about anybody. Those who know me best know this about me.”
He has been the A’s primary play-by-play voice since 2006. He added that he is astonished NBC did nto consider that before making their final decision.
“I wish that the Oakland A’s and NBC Sports would have taken into consideration my 20-year career, my solid reputation, integrity and character, but in this current environment, traits like integrity and character are no longer considered. I will always have trouble understanding how one mistake in a 20-year broadcasting career is cause for termination, but I know something better is in my future.”
Glen Kuiper closed his remarks by thanking fans and his supporters.
“I love the game of baseball and I love being a broadcaster, and I love the Bay Area community. I hope I will be remembered for that.”
The sports media was celebrated Monday night in New York City. The 44th annual Sports Emmys ceremony took place at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
NATAS President and CEO Adam Sharp acknowledged that the ceremony looked a little different. Out of respect for the WGA and their writers’ strike, many of the show’s scripted elements had been eliminated.
“The business challenges of the changing media landscape are like none we’ve seen before,” he told those in attendance. “And yet, the individual economics of making a career in our industry — starting out in our industry — can be impossible to square. Between these two realities, the generation coming up needs our industry to sow a field of common ground, not scorched earth.”
Awards were handed out in 47 categories. Among them was a lifetime achievement award, which was accepted by HBO’s Bryant Gumbel.
ESPN led the way amongst the networks, taking home thirteen trophies. Some of its biggest wins included Best Live Sports Series for Monday Night Football, Best Studio Analyst for Ryan Clark, Best Sports Event Analyst for Peyton Manning and Best Play-by-Play for Mike Breen.
FOX came in second amongst the networks with nine Sports Emmys. FOX NFL Sunday won Best Weekly Studio Show, but most of the network’s big wins were connected to coverage of the FIFA World Cup last fall.
The World Cup and the 2022 Winter Olympics were the big event winners. Coverage of the events netted three awards for FOX and NBC respectively.
