List of NFL on NBC commentator pairings

The first name that's slated is the play-by-play man while the color commentator or commentators are slated second.

1960s

1960^[1]

1. Lindsey Nelson/Frankie Albert (NBC only covered Colts and Steelers home games during this particular period)

1961^[2]

1. Lindsey Nelson/Frankie Albert

1965^[3]

• From 1965-1969, NBC covered the American Football League.

1. Curt Gowdy/Paul Christman
2. Jim Simpson/George Ratterman
3. Charlie Jones/Elmer Angsman
4. Herb Carneal/Andy Robustelli

1966^[4]

1. Curt Gowdy/Paul Christman
2. Jim Simpson/George Ratterman
3. Charlie Jones/Elmer Angsman
4. Lou Boda/Lee Grosscup

• Simpson and Ratterman would provide radio coverage for Super Bowl I.

1967^[5]

1. Curt Gowdy or Charlie Jones/Paul Christman or Kyle Rote (Week 12)^[6]
2. Jim Simpson/Kyle Rote
3. Charlie Jones/George Ratterman
4. Jay Randolph or Lou Boda/Elmer Angsman

• Week 4 of the 1967 AFL season coincided with the race for the American League pennant. NBC decided to focus on their baseball coverage instead of covering the early games; thus resulting in Curt Gowdy calling the Twins-Red Sox game; Jim Simpson calling the Angels-Tigers game); while the AFL schedule resulted in the two early games (Broncos-Oilers and Dolphins-Jets games not being televised with another Chargers-Bills game being a locally televised game airing only in San Diego on then-NBC affiliate KOGO (now ABC affiliate KGTV).

1968^[7]

1. Curt Gowdy or Charlie Jones/Kyle Rote or Al DeRogatis
2. Jim Simpson/Al DeRogatis, Elmer Angsman, Kyle Rote or George Ratterman
3. Charlie Jones/Al DeRogatis, George Ratterman or Elmer Angsman
4. Jay Randolph/Elmer Angsman, George Ratterman or Chris Burford
5. Bill Enis/George Ratterman, Al DeRogatis, Chris Burford or Elmer Angsman
6. Len Dillon/Chris Burford (Week 10, Kansas City-Cincinnati)
7. Bill Mazer/George Ratterman (Week 10, Miami-Buffalo)

Curt Gowdy, Kyle Rote, Jim Simpson and Al DeRogatis would work double-duty in Week 13:

• Gowdy and Rote: Houston-Kansas City on Thursday, Miami-NY Jets on Sunday
• Simpson: Buffalo-Oakland (Thursday w/Al DeRogatis), Cincinnati-Boston (Sunday w/Elmer Angsman)
• DeRogatis: Buffalo-Oakland, San Diego-Denver (Sunday w/Charlie Jones)
• The trio of Gowdy, Rote and DeRogatis would each also work two games in Week 1. All three teamed to call Cincinnati-San Diego on Thursday Night, DeRogatis would team with Charlie Jones for Boston-Buffalo on Saturday, and Gowdy and Rote would call Kansas City-Houston on Sunday. The trio would also broadcast Super Bowl III.
• Late in the season, there were a number of double-duty weeks by announcers. In Week 14, Simpson and DeRogatis called Buffalo-Houston on Saturday, then the following day Simpson called Denver-Oakland while DeRogatis called Cincinnati-NY Jets. The following week, DeRogatis again pulled double-duty, calling Kansas City-Denver on Saturday (with Charlie Jones), then joining Jim Simpson for Oakland-San Diego the next day. Jones called Boston-Houston with George Ratterman also that week.

#1 Announce Team Notes:

• DeRogatis called The Heidi Game with Curt Gowdy in Week 11 (Rote joined Jim Simpson for San Diego-Buffalo).
• Charlie Jones substituted for Gowdy in Week 5 (Boston-Oakland), while Gowdy called Game 4 of the 1968 World Series.

1969^[8]

1. Curt Gowdy or Charlie Jones/Kyle Rote or Al DeRogatis
2. Jim Simpson/Al DeRogatis, Elmer Angsman, Kyle Rote, George Ratterman or Dave Kocourek
3. Charlie Jones/George Ratterman, Al DeRogatis or Elmer Angsman
4. Jay Randolph/Elmer Angsman, George Ratterman, Dave Kocourek or Al DeRogatis
5. Bill Enis/Dave Kocourek, Elmer Angsman or George Ratterman

Charlie Jones and Jim Simpson worked double-duty during Week 12:

• Jones: Denver-Kansas City (Thursday w/Elmer Angsman), Miami-Boston (Sunday w/Al DeRogatis)
• Simpson: San Diego-Houston (Thursday w/Al DeRogatis), Cincinnati-Buffalo (Sunday w/Dave Kocourek)

With this being the final season before the AFL-NFL merger, this was also the final season where both leagues would have Thanksgiving doubleheaders. Starting in 1970, only two games would be played on Thanksgiving, with the Lions and Cowboys hosting those games, and an AFC team rotating as the visiting team between Detroit and Dallas every year.

#1 Announce Team Notes:

• Charlie Jones substituted for Curt Gowdy during Week 5 (NY Jets-Cincinnati), while Gowdy called Game 2 of the 1969 World Series.
• Al DeRogatis substituted for Kyle Rote in Weeks 9 (San Diego-Kansas City) and 11 (Oakland-Kansas City). Rote paired with Jim Simpson in both instances.

1970s

• From 1970-1997, NBC covered the American Football Conference.

1970^[9]

1. Curt Gowdy, Bill Enis or Charlie Jones/Kyle Rote
2. Jim Simpson or Charlie Jones/Al DeRogatis
3. Charlie Jones, Ross Porter or Bill O'Donnell/George Ratterman or Dave Kocourek
4. Bill Enis/Dave Kocourek, George Ratterman or Johnny Morris
5. Jay Randolph/Johnny Morris, Gordy Soltau or Dave Kocourek
6. Ross Porter or Dave Martin/Willie Davis
7. Bill O'Donnell/Dave Kocourek

• After this season, Al DeRogatis and Kyle Rote swapped positions; resulting in DeRogatis being the #1 color commentator and Rote being the #2 analyst.

1971^[10]

1. Curt Gowdy or Charlie Jones/Al DeRogatis
2. Jim Simpson/Kyle Rote
3. Charlie Jones or Bill Enis/George Ratterman, Willie Davis or Johnny Morris
4. Jay Randolph/George Ratterman, Willie Davis, Paul Maguire or Dave Kocourek
5. Ross Porter/Willie Davis
6. Bill Enis, Ross Porter or Al Michaels/Dave Kocourek
7. Al Michaels, Ross Porter or Bill Enis/Johnny Morris
8. Bill Enis or Al Michaels/Paul Maguire (Weeks 7, 10)

1972^[11]

1. Curt Gowdy or Charlie Jones/Al DeRogatis
2. Jim Simpson/Kyle Rote
3. Charlie Jones or Ross Porter/George Ratterman
4. Bill Enis, Jay Randolph or Ken Coleman/Paul Maguire
5. Jay Randolph, Ken Coleman or Ross Porter/Dave Kocourek
6. Ross Porter, Jay Randolph or Bill Enis/Willie Davis
7. Ken Coleman/Alan Miller (Week 3)

1973^[12]

1. Curt Gowdy, Charlie Jones or Bill Enis/Al DeRogatis
2. Jim Simpson, Bill Enis or Jay Randolph/Kyle Rote
3. Charlie Jones or Al Michaels/Sam DeLuca
4. Jay Randolph/Paul Maguire, Johnny Morris, Mike Haffner or Alan Miller
5. Ross Porter/Willie Davis
6. Bill Enis, Al Michaels or Bill O'Donnell/Dave Kocourek
7. Bill Enis/Paul Maguire (Weeks 8, 12-13)
8. Ken Coleman/Sam DeLuca (Week 4) or Alan Miller (Week 8)

• Two days before he was assigned to call the regular-season finale between the Houston Oilers and Cincinnati Bengals, Bill Enis died from a heart attack at the age of 39. Al Michaels was brought in to replace Enis in the booth with Dave Kocourek.

1974^[13]

1. Curt Gowdy, Jim Simpson or Jay Randolph/Al DeRogatis/Don Meredith (Weeks 3, 7-8, 11-12, 14)
2. Jim Simpson or Charlie Jones/John Brodie/Don Meredith (Week 13)
3. Charlie Jones, Al Michaels or Bill O'Donnell/Sam DeLuca
4. Jay Randolph/Paul Maguire
5. Ross Porter/Willie Davis
6. Al Michaels/Mike Haffner
7. Bill O'Donnell/Johnny Morris

• This was the final season of what would be Al Michaels' first stint with NBC.
• Don Meredith comes over to NBC from ABC's Monday Night Football. He would join Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis for the playoffs and Super Bowl IX. He also worked that year's Thanksgiving game between Denver and Detroit. In Week 13, he joined Jim Simpson and John Brodie to call Cleveland-Dallas.

1975^[14]

1. Curt Gowdy or Charlie Jones/Al DeRogatis and/or Don Meredith
2. Jim Simpson/John Brodie or Al DeRogatis/Don Meredith (Week 5)
3. Charlie Jones or Bill O'Donnell/Sam DeLuca or John Brodie
4. Jay Randolph or Bill O'Donnell/Paul Maguire or Sam DeLuca
5. Ross Porter or Jay Randolph/Willie Davis
6. Tim Ryan, Bill O'Donnell or Jay Randolph/Mike Haffner
7. Bill O'Donnell or Tim Ryan/Lionel Aldridge
8. Dick Stockton/Al DeRogatis (Week 12)

• This was the final season for Al DeRogatis at NBC. He would return briefly in 1988 as a fill-in color commentator during the 1988 Summer Olympics.

1976^[15]

1. Curt Gowdy/Don Meredith or John Brodie
2. Jim Simpson/John Brodie, Len Dawson or Don Meredith
3. Charlie Jones or Tim Ryan/Sam DeLuca, Len Dawson or Paul Maguire
4. Jack Buck/Paul Maguire or Len Dawson
5. Tim Ryan or Ross Porter/Lionel Aldridge
6. Jay Randolph or Dick Stockton/Floyd Little
7. Ross Porter, Dick Stockton or Jay Randolph/Mike Haffner
8. Dick Stockton (Week 13) or Ross Porter (Week 5)/Paul Maguire

• Don Meredith would return to Monday Night Football at the end of the season.
• After this season, Tim Ryan would leave NBC to join CBS Sports.
• Curt Gowdy would pull split double-duty with Don Meredith and John Brodie in Weeks 12 and 14. In Week 12, Brodie worked the Thanksgiving Day game (Buffalo-Detroit), while Meredith worked Pittsburgh-Cincinnati. In Week 14, Gowdy and Brodie called Pittsburgh-Houston on Saturday, then the following day Gowdy and Meredith called Cincinnati-NY Jets. After Meredith left NBC, Brodie would be the #1 color commentator alongside Curt Gowdy in 1977 and 1978.

1977^[16]

1. Curt Gowdy/John Brodie or Merlin Olsen
2. Jim Simpson/Merlin Olsen, John Brodie, Len Dawson or Mike Haffner
3. Charlie Jones or Sam Nover/Paul Maguire, Andy Russell, Len Dawson or Mike Adamle
4. Jack Buck/Mike Haffner, Paul Maguire, Len Dawson, Floyd Little, Andy Russell or Jimmy Johnson
5. Jay Randolph/Floyd Little, Andy Russell, Mike Adamle, Mike Haffner, Lionel Aldridge or Len Dawson
6. Dick Stockton/Paul Maguire, Lionel Aldridge, Mike Haffner or Len Dawson
7. Marv Albert/Len Dawson, Mike Haffner, Paul Maguire or Jimmy Johnson
8. Stu Nahan/Floyd Little, Mike Haffner, Len Dawson or Andy Russell
9. Sam Nover/Mike Haffner (Weeks 10, 12) or Floyd Little (Week 14)
10. Dick Enberg/Merlin Olsen (Weeks 6, 14)

• After this season, Jack Buck would return to CBS Sports, primarily calling games for CBS Radio. Dick Stockton would also return to CBS Sports.

1978^[17]

1. Dick Enberg/Merlin Olsen/Mike Haffner (Week 16)
2. Curt Gowdy or Charlie Jones/John Brodie
3. Jim Simpson/Paul Warfield
4. Charlie Jones, Sam Nover or Marv Albert/Len Dawson
5. Jay Randolph or Sam Nover/Mike Haffner
6. Sam Nover, Jay Randolph or Marv Albert/Bob Trumpy
7. Marv Albert or Jay Randolph/Ed Podolak
8. Stu Nahan, Jay Randolph or Marv Albert/Paul Maguire

• The teams of Enberg/Olsen and Gowdy/Brodie began the year as co-head crews. But the unofficial passing of the torch happened on Thanksgiving, when Enberg/Olsen covered Denver-Detroit, while the following Sunday, Gowdy/Brodie covered Seattle-Oakland.
• Len Dawson would join Dick Enberg in covering the Houston-Miami wild card game, and Charlie Jones in the Houston-New England divisional playoff game.
• Merlin Olsen would join Curt Gowdy and John Brodie for that season's AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XIII.
• After his call of Super Bowl XIII, Curt Gowdy would leave NBC for CBS, calling games with Hank Stram for two seasons.
• Len Dawson did not work Week 15 due to mourning the death of his wife.^[18]

1979^[19]

1. Dick Enberg/Merlin Olsen
2. Don Criqui or Jim Simpson/John Brodie (Jim Simpson left for the then brand new ESPN after Week 2)
3. Charlie Jones/Len Dawson
4. Sam Nover or Don Criqui/Bob Trumpy
5. Jay Randolph/Paul Maguire, Mike Haffner or Mike Lucci
6. Merle Harmon/George Kunz
7. Marv Albert or Sam Nover/Mike Haffner
8. Stu Nahan or Phil Stone/Mike Lucci

1980s

1980^[20]

1. Dick Enberg/Merlin Olsen or Bob Trumpy (Trumpy filled in for Olsen during the Oakland-Philadelphia regular season game)
2. Don Criqui/John Brodie
3. Charlie Jones or Bob Costas/Len Dawson
4. Sam Nover or Mike Adamle or Merle Harmon/Bob Trumpy or Gene Washington
5. Jay Randolph, Bob Costas, Marv Albert or Mike Adamle/Gene Washington
6. Merle Harmon/Carl Eller
7. Marv Albert, Mike Adamle, Bob Costas, Jay Randolph or Merle Harmon/Mike Haffner
8. Marv Albert, Jay Randolph or Mike Adamle/Dave Rowe

• The December 20 game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins was broadcast without announcers, a one-time experiment by NBC executive producer Don Ohlmeyer.

1981^[21]

1. Dick Enberg or Charlie Jones/Merlin Olsen, John Brodie, Len Dawson or Bob Trumpy
2. Don Criqui or Phil Stone/John Brodie or Bob Trumpy
3. Charlie Jones, Marv Albert or Phil Stone/Len Dawson
4. Bob Costas/Bob Trumpy
5. Phil Stone, Marv Albert, Bob Costas or Jay Randolph/Gene Washington
6. Jay Randolph, Mike Adamle, Marv Albert, Phil Stone or Merle Harmon/Mike Haffner
7. Merle Harmon/George Kunz
8. Marv Albert, Jay Randolph, Bob Costas or Merle Harmon/Jim Turner
9. Sam Nover, Charlie Jones, Mike Adamle or Jay Randolph/Dave Rowe, Harmon Wages or Rocky Bleier

• The December 12 New York Jets/Cleveland Browns game was handled by Dick Enberg working solo without usual broadcast partner Merlin Olsen. To fill the gap, interviews from both teams would be used where Olsen's commentary would have been fitting.

1982^[22]

1. Dick Enberg/Merlin Olsen, John Brodie or Len Dawson
2. Don Criqui, Jay Randolph or Marv Albert/John Brodie
3. Charlie Jones or Don Criqui/Len Dawson
4. Bob Costas, Don Criqui or Marv Albert/Bob Trumpy
5. Jay Randolph, Bob Costas, Marv Albert or Don Criqui/Bob Griese
6. Phil Stone or Jay Randolph/Gene Washington
7. Merle Harmon, Marv Albert, Gary Gerould or Phil Stone/Jim Turner
8. Jay Randolph, Phil Stone or Merle Harmon/Mike Haffner
9. Mike Haffner/Dave Rowe (Weeks 4-5)

• Dick Enberg teamed with John Brodie to call the Week 1 game between the Raiders-49ers, and then with Len Dawson for the Week 2 game between the Raiders and Falcons.

1983^[23]

1. Dick Enberg or Don Criqui/Merlin Olsen
2. Marv Albert, Phil Stone or Don Criqui/John Brodie or Bob Trumpy or Reggie Rucker
3. Charlie Jones/Bob Griese
4. Bob Costas or Jay Randolph/Bob Trumpy
5. Don Criqui/Jim Turner, Ahmad Rashad or Gene Washington
6. Jay Randolph, Merle Harmon or Marv Albert/Gene Washington, Bob Chandler, Reggie Rucker or Dave Rowe
7. Phil Stone/Bob Chandler, Reggie Rucker, Mike Adamle, Dave Rowe, Gene Washington or Jim Turner
8. Merle Harmon or Gary Gerould/Dave Rowe or Jim Turner

• This was Bob Costas' last season in the booth before being promoted as the new host (replacing Len Berman) of NFL '84.

1984^[24]

1. Dick Enberg, Don Criqui or Charlie Jones/Merlin Olsen
2. Marv Albert, Jay Randolph, Phil Stone or Marty Glickman/John Brodie (this team called almost all New York Jets games on NBC that season)
3. Charlie Jones or Jay Randolph/Bob Griese
4. Don Criqui, Jay Randolph or Len Berman/Bob Trumpy
5. Len Berman, Jay Randolph, Todd Donoho or Phil Stone/Gene Washington
6. Phil Stone, Bill Wilkerson, Gary Gerould, Jay Randolph or Todd Donoho/Reggie Rucker
7. Gary Gerould or Bill Wilkerson/Harvey Martin
8. Phil Stone, Gary Gerould or Bill Wilkerson/Dave Rowe

1985^[25]

1. Dick Enberg or Charlie Jones/Merlin Olsen
2. Don Criqui/Bob Trumpy
3. Marv Albert or Jay Randolph/Bob Griese
4. Charlie Jones, Phil Stone, Jay Randolph or Gary Gerould/Sam Rutigliano
5. Tom Hammond, Jay Randolph , Phil Stone or Len Berman/Reggie Rucker
6. Phil Stone, Tom Hammond, Jay Randolph or Charlie Jones/Jimmy Cefalo
7. Len Berman, Phil Stone, Tom Hammond or Gary Gerould/Bob Kuechenberg
8. Fred Roggin, Bob Lobel, Phil Stone, Tom Hammond, Len Berman or Gary Gerould/Dave Rowe

• During this and the season that followed, #2 team broadcasters Criqui and Trumpy were the lead broadcast team on NBC Radio.
• Bob Griese would work the 1985 AFC Championship game as a field reporter, and would serve as a third commentator for Super Bowl XX.

1986^[26]

1. Dick Enberg or Charlie Jones/Merlin Olsen
2. Don Criqui or Len Berman/Bob Trumpy
3. Marv Albert, Jay Randolph or Tom Hammond/Bob Griese (following this season, Griese would move to ABC as a college football analyst)
4. Charlie Jones, Jay Randolph or Gary Gerould/Jimmy Cefalo/Bob Griese (Week 15; Jones, Cefalo, and Griese called the Miami-LA Rams game)
5. Len Berman or Gary Gerould/John Hannah
6. Gary Gerould/Butch Johnson
7. Tom Hammond, Tom Davis, Jay Randolph, Kevin Slaten, Fred Roggin, Len Berman or Mel Proctor/Dave Rowe
8. Tom Hammond, Bob Lobel, Len Berman, Phil Stone or Jay Randolph/Reggie Rucker
9. Gary Gerould, Steve Grad, Tom Hammond or Len Berman/Sam Rutigliano
10. Tom Hammond/Jon Morris (Weeks 2, 16)

1987^[27]

1. Dick Enberg/Merlin Olsen or Paul Maguire
2. Don Criqui/Bob Trumpy or Paul Maguire
3. Marv Albert or Gary Gerould/Joe Namath
4. Charlie Jones/Jimmy Cefalo
5. Mel Proctor, Kevin Slaten, Jay Randolph, Gary Gerould or Jim Donovan/Reggie Rucker
6. Gary Gerould, Tom Hammond or Mel Proctor/Sam Rutigliano
7. Tom Hammond, Sam Nover, Jay Randolph, Gary Gerould or Jim Donovan/Dave Casper
8. Tom Hammond, Sam Nover or Jay Randolph/Michael Jackson
9. Tom Hammond or Fred Roggin/Dave Lapham
10. Jim Donovan/Paul Maguire (Week 6)
11. Tom Hammond/Tom Jackson (Week 8)
12. Gayle Sierens/Dave Rowe (Week 15; on the December 27 game between the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs, Sierens from NBC's Tampa affiliate WFLA (then WXFL-TV) would become the first female play-by-play announcer in NFL history)

1988^[28]

1. Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy, Ray Scott, Charlie Jones or Mel Proctor/Merlin Olsen or Al DeRogatis (This would be Olsen's final season as the main color commentator)
2. Marv Albert/Paul Maguire or Joe Namath (Week 1 only) (During the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Maguire replaced Ahmad Rashad as part of the NFL Live! pregame show; while Rashad returned from Seoul after Week 5, Maguire did not return to the broadcast booth until Week 9, after Albert had completed his post-season baseball assignments)
3. Don Criqui/Bob Trumpy (Did not work during Olympics)
4. Charlie Jones, Chuck Thompson, Jim Donovan or Gary Gerould/Jimmy Cefalo or Jon Morris (Did not work during Olympics; Cefalo was still in the US for Week 2, but joined the other broadcasters in Seoul afterwards)
5. Jim Donovan/Reggie Rucker, Joe Namath, Larry Csonka or Jon Morris
6. Tom Hammond, Ray Scott or Chuck Thompson/Joe Namath, Jon Morris or Dave Lapham (Hammond and Namath were not established as a permanent pairing until Week 11; Namath worked with seven different play-by-play men over the course of the season)
7. Gary Gerould/Reggie Rucker, Jon Morris or Ken Anderson (Gerould was in Seoul [assignment unknown] and did not call a game until Week 6)
8. Mel Proctor/Joe Namath, Al DeRogatis, Jerry Kramer, Jon Morris or Larry Csonka (Proctor worked during the Olympics and baseball-related shortages [Weeks 2-8]; his only assignment after that was substituting for Enberg in Week 10; he did seven play-by-plays with six different analysts)
9. Sam Nover/Jon Morris or Ken Anderson or Dave Lapham (Worked during Olympics/baseball shortages)
10. Jay Randolph/Reggie Rucker or Dave Rowe
11. Fred Roggin/Larry Csonka or Jerry Kramer
12. Merle Harmon/Paul Hornung, Joe Namath or Al DeRogatis (Worked during Olympics)
13. Kevin Slaten/Dave Lapham (Weeks 2-5) (Worked during Olympics)
14. Steve Grad/Jon Morris (Week 5 only; Morris had nine analyst assignments in the 16 weeks of the season, and was paired with seven different play-by-play men [only working with Hammond and Nover twice each])
15. Curt Gowdy/Jerry Kramer (Week 6 only)

Footnotes

• Olympic replacement: During the 1988 season, in order to fulfill Olympic obligations, NBC brought in legendary announcers to fill in for the regular play-by-play men, while they were covering the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Replacement announcers during the Olympic period included Ray Scott, Merle Harmon, Chuck Thompson and Al DeRogatis.
  • Albert was off in Seoul during the Olympics doing boxing, and spent the three weeks after that covering post-season baseball.
  • Criqui and Trumpy were off in Seoul during the Olympics. Criqui called swimming and Trumpy called volleyball.
  • Jones and Cefalo were off in Seoul during the Olympics. Jones called track & field and Cefalo served as the daytime host.
  • Enberg was off in Seoul during the Olympics. He served as host for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
  • Jay Randolph was in Seoul during the Olympics. He called baseball during the Games.

1989^[29]

1. Dick Enberg/Bill Walsh
2. Charlie Jones/Merlin Olsen
3. Marv Albert or Jim Donovan/Bob Trumpy or Ahmad Rashad
4. Don Criqui/Ahmad Rashad
5. Joel Meyers/Paul Maguire
6. Tom Hammond or Jay Randolph/Joe Namath
7. Jim Donovan/Jimmy Cefalo or Jim Laslavic
8. Fred Roggin or Jay Randolph/Lyle Alzado

• Merlin Olsen would move over to CBS the following season.
• Lyle Alzado would leave NBC after the 1989 season in order to attempt a comeback as a player^[30]

1990s

1990^[31]

1. Dick Enberg or Charlie Jones/Bill Walsh
2. Marv Albert or Jim Donovan/Paul Maguire
3. Don Criqui /Bob Trumpy or Ahmad Rashad
4. Charlie Jones, Don Criqui or Fred Roggin/Todd Christensen
5. Joel Meyers/Ahmad Rashad
6. Tom Hammond or Jim Donovan/Joe Namath
7. Jim Donovan or Joel Meyers/Cris Collinsworth
8. Fred Roggin/Jim Laslavic

1991^[32]

1. Dick Enberg/Bill Walsh
2. Charlie Jones or Don Criqui/Todd Christensen or Ahmad Rashad
3. Marv Albert or Jim Donovan/Paul Maguire or Bill Parcells
4. Tom Hammond, Mel Proctor or Kevin Harlan/Joe Namath
5. Don Criqui/Bob Trumpy or Ahmad Rashad
6. Joel Meyers/Dan Hampton
7. Jim Donovan/Beasley Reece
8. Mel Proctor/Jim Laslavic

• Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh did not call any games during Weeks 9-12 of the 1991 NFL season due to being assigned to covering Notre Dame home games on NBC (this being the network's first season as the home of Fighting Irish home games).
• Bill Walsh left NBC after this season to return to coaching at Stanford.
• Bill Parcells was originally hired after leaving the New York Giants as a panelist for NFL Live!; however, he would be assigned early in the 1991 season as a substitute for Paul Maguire while Maguire recovered from a heart attack.^[33] Meanwhile, for Week 1 Marv Albert substituted as host of NFL Live!; as regular host Bob Costas along with O.J. Simpson; play-by-play broadcaster Tom Hammond and analyst Todd Christensen were assigned to cover the world track and field championships in Tokyo, Japan.

1992^[34]

1. Dick Enberg/Bob Trumpy
2. Marv Albert or Don Criqui/Bill Parcells
3. Charlie Jones/Todd Christensen
4. Don Criqui or Joel Meyers/Paul Maguire
5. Jim Lampley or Joel Meyers/Ahmad Rashad or Dan Hampton
6. Tom Hammond/Cris Collinsworth
7. Dan Hicks/Dan Hampton, Joe Namath, John Dockery or Beasley Reece
8. Joel Meyers/Beasley Reece, Dan Hampton or Joe Namath
9. Jim Donovan/Dan Hampton (Week 17 only)

• Bill Parcells left after this season to take the New England Patriots head coaching job.
• Jim Lampley would replace Bob Costas as host of the NFL on NBC pregame show NFL Live in 1993.

1993^[35]

1. Dick Enberg or Drew Goodman/Bob Trumpy
2. Marv Albert, Dick Enberg or Don Criqui/Paul Maguire or Mike Ditka
3. Charlie Jones/Todd Christensen
4. Tom Hammond or Drew Goodman/Cris Collinsworth
5. Don Criqui or Drew Goodman/Beasley Reece

• The open option for the #6 and #7 broadcast teams include Bob Costas, Dan Hicks, Drew Goodman, and Jim Donovan at play-by-play, and Joe Gibbs, Dan Hampton, and Mike Ditka at analyst.
• Joe Gibbs would join Mike Ditka at NFL Live! the following season, while Ahmad Rashad would return as co-host with Greg Gumbel. After this season, Bob Costas' role on The NFL on NBC would be reduced to presenting feature stories and interviews.
• O.J. Simpson would be a sideline reporter for several announcing crews during the season, including Super Bowl XXVIII alongside Todd Christensen. Simpson would be gone following the season due to the O.J. Simpson murder case.

1994^[36]

1. Dick Enberg/Bob Trumpy/Hannah Storm
2. Marv Albert/Paul Maguire
3. Charlie Jones/Randy Cross
4. Jim Lampley or Don Criqui/Todd Christensen
5. Tom Hammond, Don Criqui or Dan Hicks/Cris Collinsworth
6. Don Criqui, Jim Donovan or Mike Bush/Beasley Reece
7. Dan Hicks or Jim Donovan/Bob Golic
8. Mike Bush/Dan Hampton (Week 2 only)

1995^[37]

1. Dick Enberg or Marv Albert/Phil Simms/Paul Maguire/Jim Gray
2. Marv Albert, Tom Hammond or Dan Hicks/Cris Collinsworth
3. Charlie Jones or Dan Hicks/Randy Cross
4. Tom Hammond, Dan Hicks or Jim Lampley/Bob Trumpy
5. Jim Lampley, Jim Donovan, Dan Hicks or Don Criqui/Bob Golic
6. Don Criqui/Beasley Reece (This duo called almost all of the Jacksonville Jaguars games airing on NBC that season)
7. Dan Hicks or Jim Donovan/Tunch Ilkin or John Dockery (Week 15)

• Cris Collinsworth moved to the pregame show to replace Joe Montana after the season.
• In Week 4, Phil Simms and Paul Maguire joined Tom Hammond at Notre Dame to call the game played against Texas on September 23.
• In Week 13 (Thanksgiving Weekend), Dick Enberg called the Thanksgiving Day game between Kansas City and Dallas with regular partners Phil Simms and Paul Maguire, and on that Sunday Marv Albert called Pittsburgh/Cleveland with Simms and Maguire, prompting other play-by-play announcers to move up (Tom Hammond paired with Cris Collinsworth, Jim Lampley with Bob Trumpy, and Don Criqui with Bob Golic).

1996^[38]

1. Dick Enberg or Marv Albert/Phil Simms/Paul Maguire/Jim Gray
2. Marv Albert or Dan Hicks/Sam Wyche/Randy Cross (Week 16) or Paul Maguire (Week 17)
3. Charlie Jones/Randy Cross
4. Tom Hammond or Dan Hicks/Bob Trumpy
5. Jim Lampley, Dan Hicks or Jim Donovan/Bob Golic
6. Don Criqui or Jim Donovan/Beasley Reece
7. Dan Hicks or Jim Donovan/Bart Oates

• Sam Wyche would replace Mike Ditka on the NFL on NBC pregame show for the 1997 season.

1997^[39]

1. Dick Enberg or Tom Hammond/Phil Simms/Paul Maguire/Jim Gray
2. Marv Albert, Tom Hammond, Charlie Jones or Joel Meyers/Randy Cross/Jim Kelly (Week 7)
3. Charlie Jones or Dan Hicks or Jim Donovan/Bob Trumpy/Jim Mora (Weeks 3, 7), Randy Cross (Weeks 6, 11) or Jim Kelly (Week 8)
4. Tom Hammond, Dan Hicks or Joel Meyers/Jim Kelly/Paul Maguire (Weeks 10, 16) or James Lofton (Week 11)
5. Don Criqui or Dan Hicks/Jim Mora/Randy Cross (Week 17)
6. Mike Breen or Jim Donovan/James Lofton (mostly NY Jets games)
7. Dan Hicks, Joel Meyers or Jim Donovan/Beasley Reece
8. Bob Fitzgerald/Jim Laslavic (Week 9)

• Following Week 3, Marv Albert was fired by NBC because of sexual assault charges pressed against him. Albert, also the voice of NBA on NBC at the time, was replaced in both venues. Tom Hammond would eventually move up to the #2 team, while Dan Hicks would primarily call games with Hammond's old partner, Jim Kelly.
• During AFC Divisional Playoffs, NBC used three-man booths. Bob Trumpy joined Tom Hammond and Randy Cross on the New England at Pittsburgh game. While Enberg, Simms, and Maguire called the Denver at Kansas City game.
• Three-man booths were near-prevalent in the aftermath of Marv Albert's firing. Below is a list of games with three-man broadcast teams outside of NBC's #1 team of Enberg, Simms and Maguire.

- Week 3: Seattle-Indianapolis (Jones, Trumpy, Mora)
- Week 6: Kansas City-Miami (Jones, Trumpy, Cross)
- Week 7: Buffalo-New England (Hammond, Cross, Kelly); Cincinnati-Tennessee (Jones, Trumpy, Mora)
- Week 8: Pittsburgh-Cincinnati (Hicks, Trumpy, Kelly)
- Week 10: Miami-Buffalo (Hicks, Maguire, Kelly)
- Week 11: Kansas City-Jacksonville (Hicks, Kelly, Lofton); NY Jets-Miami (Jones, Trumpy, Cross)
- Week 16: Jacksonville-Buffalo (Meyers, Maguire, Kelly)
- Week 17: Indianapolis-Minnesota (Criqui, Mora, Cross)

• This was the final season of NBC's coverage of the AFC, and final coverage of the NFL until 2006. CBS took over AFC coverage the following year. Greg Gumbel would leave NBC, and would team up with Phil Simms as the #1 announcing team at CBS. Also at CBS, Randy Cross would become the #2 analyst, Sam Wyche would leave the pregame show to become the #3 analyst, and Don Criqui and Beasley Reece would reunite for the 1998 season. Dick Enberg would stay with NBC for another two years before joining CBS in 2000, where he would be the #2 announcer until 2005. Cris Collinsworth also left NBC to join Fox NFL Sunday.

2000s

• Beginning in 2006, NBC returned to the NFL for the first time since 1997 (when they last had the AFC package) to broadcast Sunday night games. NBC replaced ESPN as the Sunday night broadcaster.

2006

1. Al Michaels/John Madden/Andrea Kremer
2. Tom Hammond/Cris Collinsworth/Bob Neumeier (Wild Card Saturday)

2007

1. Al Michaels/John Madden/Andrea Kremer
2. Tom Hammond/Cris Collinsworth/Bob Neumeier (Wild Card Saturday)

2008

1. Al Michaels/John Madden/Andrea Kremer
   • During Week 7 (Seattle at Tampa Bay), Cris Collinsworth substituted for Madden. Madden was given an off-week to alleviate a hectic coast-to-coast bus travel schedule^[40] which would have taken him from Jacksonville to San Diego to Tampa in three weeks.
2. Tom Hammond/Cris Collinsworth/Tiki Barber (Wild Card Saturday)

2009

1. Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Andrea Kremer
2. Tom Hammond/Joe Theismann and Joe Gibbs^[41]/Tiki Barber (Wild Card Saturday)

• Cris Collinsworth was promoted to the lead color commentator slot following the retirement of John Madden. This marks the second time Collinsworth had replaced Madden as a lead commentator, getting bumped to the top slot on Fox coverage alongside Joe Buck and Troy Aikman following Madden's departure for Monday Night Football.
• The announcement of Joe Gibbs as one of the color commentators for the Wild Card Saturday playoff games marked Gibbs' return to NBC's NFL coverage; where following his first retirement from the Redskins, he served as an occasional commentator on regional coverage during the 1993 NFL season before becoming a panelist on NFL Live!/NFL on NBC between the 1994 season until NBC lost NFL coverage after Super Bowl XXXII.

2010s

2010

1. Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Andrea Kremer
2. Tom Hammond/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan (Wild Card Saturday)

• Beginning with the 2010 season NBC elected to use the Notre Dame football broadcast team as its second Wild Card Weekend broadcast team, as Mike Mayock and Alex Flanagan joined Tom Hammond.

2011

1. Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya
2. Tom Hammond/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan (Wild Card Saturday)
3. Dan Hicks/Mike Mayock/Doug Flutie/Alex Flanagan/Randy Moss (Pro Bowl)

2012

1. Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya
2. Dan Hicks/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan (Wild Card Saturday)

Dan Hicks filled in for Al Michaels on the preseason matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Michaels took some time off during that game after anchoring NBC's daytime coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Hicks also replaced Tom Hammond on the Notre Dame broadcast team at this point.

2013

1. Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya
2. Dan Hicks/Mike Mayock/Alex Flanagan (Wild Card Saturday)

• This was the last wildcard playoff doubleheader on NBC for the foreseeable future. From 2014 onward, ESPN will air one wild card playoff game. NBC will only air one wildcard playoff game and will air one divisional playoff game.

2014-2015

1. Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya

2016

1. Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya (Sunday Night Football) or Heather Cox (Thursday Night Football)
2. Mike Tirico/Cris Collinsworth or Doug Flutie/Michelle Tafoya (weeks 11–14)

Original plans were for Michaels, Collinsworth and Tafoya to call Sunday nights while Tirico, Collinsworth and Heather Cox called Thursday night contests, but the NFL vetoed the plans and demanded the same broadcast team call both packages.^[42] NBC later gave Michaels four games off from its Sunday Night Football package (including the Thanksgiving game, which was covered under the previous contract and not the one shared with NFL Network, and three Sunday night contests), giving the play-by-play assignment on those games to Tirico.^[43]

Surrogate professional football programs on NBC

XFL

In 2001, NBC carried broadcasts of the XFL.

The pregame show, XFL Gameday, was hosted by radio shock jocks Opie and Anthony from The Opie and Anthony Show. The show did not air nationwide and was canceled after four weeks. There was no studio halftime or postgame show, the latter due to a schedule conflict with Saturday Night Live. Halftime shows consisted mostly of live look-ins in the player locker rooms (with the exception of Week 6, where a comedy sketch purporting to go into the cheerleaders’ locker rooms instead aired).

NBC used two broadcast teams for its XFL broadcast coverage. Matt Vasgersian was teamed with then-Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, Fred Roggin and Mike Adamle for Week 1, and again from week 6 through the rest of the season, on its nationally televised contests. NBC also regionally televised a second game, which used World Wrestling Federation announcers Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (under their WWF nicknames "J.R." and "The King" for week 1), along with Jonathan Coachman. Ross and Vasgersian swapped places from Weeks 2 through 5, after which Lawler (who knew nothing about football) left the WWF and the XFL; from that point onward, Ross and Dick Butkus called the remainder of the regional telecasts.

Arena Football League

From 2003-2006, NBC covered Arena Football League games.

The pre-game, halftime, and post-game studio show was anchored by Al Trautwig and analyst Glenn Parker since its inception. In 2003, Michael Irvin also provided studio analysis, but that role was subsequently filled with guest analysts, including Ray Bentley, Danny White, Tommy Maddox, and Kurt Warner.

Game commentary was provided by two major teams, with the lead consisting of play-by-play announcer Tom Hammond and analyst Pat Haden, with sideline reporter Lewis Johnson (this team, at the time, was also the announcing team for Notre Dame Football on NBC). The other included Bob Papa (play-by-play), Ray Bentley (analyst) and Marty Snider (sideline reporter). Additional talent included (often in different pairings) play-by-play announcers Eli Gold, Bill Weber, and Allen Bestwick, as well as color commentators Mike Pawlawski and Charles Davis, and sideline reporter Steve Wrigley.

See also

• National Football League on television
• List of NFL on CBS commentator pairings
• List of NFL on Fox commentator pairings

References

1. 1960
2. 1961
3. 1965
4. 1966
5. 1967
6. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hAcqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_icEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6388,455068&dq=paul-christman+broadcast&hl=en
18. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19781207&id=mYMyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_eYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5176,2272227
30. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-05-11/sports/sp-1215_1_lyle-alzado
33. http://articles.philly.com/1991-09-23/sports/25800264_1_nfl-live-jim-mcmahon-hot-topic
39. https://web.archive.org/web/20080522171323/http://ssjmonkey.homestead.com:80/files/1997_NFL_Schedule.txt
40. N.F.L. ROUNDUP; Madden Will Skip Sunday's Game at Tampa Bay
41. Theismann, Gibbs, to call Wild Card game on NBC
42. Raissman, Bob (August 20, 2016). "Al Michaels, not Mike Tirico, will be calling NFL games on Thursday for NBC". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
43. "Mike Tirico to replace Al Michaels on four NFL broadcasts on NBC". USA Today. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

Sources

1. Sports Broadcast History Forums Sports Broadcast History Archives Football Archives
2. 1996 NFL Commentator Crews
3. 1997 NFL Announcing Teams
4. Hammond & Collinsworth Named Commentators for NFL Wild Card Game on NBC
5. Eye On Sports Media: NFL Broadcast Assignments