Best Current NFL TV Broadcast Teams

Who ya got?

  • CBS: Nantz/Romo

    Votes: 45 33.6%
  • CBS: Gumbel/Green

    Votes: 11 8.2%
  • CBS: Eagle/Fouts (click this box at your own peril)

    Votes: 1 0.7%
  • CBS: Harlan/Gannon

    Votes: 25 18.7%
  • ESPN: Tessitore/Witten

    Votes: 3 2.2%
  • FOX: Buck/Aikman

    Votes: 28 20.9%
  • FOX: Burkhardt/Davis

    Votes: 4 3.0%
  • FOX: Myers/Johnston

    Votes: 3 2.2%
  • NBC: Michaels/Collinsworth

    Votes: 62 46.3%
  • Some other pair (explain in the answer)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    134

Mugsy's Jock

Eli apologist
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 28, 2000
15,069
UWS, NYC
Time to check in...

Yeah, everybody sucks and hates my favorite team. But as Conigliaro's Potential could tell you, it's not as easy a job as it seems.

Pick two you like the most. Or hate the least.

[I like Harlan/Gannon the most, and Michaels/Collinsworth next.]
 
Last edited:

Seels

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
4,948
NH
Best is collinsworth and Michaels .

Worst is fouts. How do people pay fouts to day words ?
 

glennhoffmania

meat puppet
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 25, 2005
8,411,586
NY
It's Michaels/Collinsworth and it's not very close. Michaels has certainly lost a few mph off his fastball over the years but he still calls a good game, doesn't get easily confused like most on that list, speaks coherently, and shows an understanding of the game and the rules. I think Collinsworth is a very good analyst.

The ESPN team is a total joke. They're the worst MNF team I've ever seen. Nantz and Buck are extremely overrated, and while Romo is getting better he still isn't great; and Aikman sounds very confused a lot of the time.

The rest aren't really worth commenting on.
 

75cent bleacher seat

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
I will always remember Ray Scott...from Wikipedia:

Biography[edit]
Early life and career[edit]
A native of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Scott began his broadcasting career on local radio in the late 1930s. More specifically, fellow announcer Bill McColgan, in his introduction of Ray Scott for the radio broadcast of the 1957 NFL Championship game, states that Ray started broadcasting when he was only 17 years old. His first NFL broadcasts came in 1953 over the DuMont network; three years later he began doing play-by-play on Packers broadcasts for CBS-TV,[1] and it was in Green Bay that his terse, minimalist style (e.g. : "Starr . . . Dowler . . . Touchdown, Green Bay.") developed its greatest following. Scott was also known for only occasionally using team names while broadcasting, more often identifying them by their city.

Green Bay Packers and CBS Sports[edit]
Scott was paired primarily with Tony Canadeo on Packers telecasts. As the team's play-by-play announcer, Scott broadcast Super Bowl I and II for CBS, along with the brutally cold "Ice Bowl" NFL championship game of 1967. In 1968, CBS ended its practice of assigning dedicated announcing crews to particular teams, and Scott was appointed to the network's lead NFL crew, teaming with Paul Christman (1968–69) and Pat Summerall (1970–73). During his tenure with CBS he called four Super Bowls, seven NFL (later NFC) championship games, and the 1961 Orange Bowl; he also called major college bowl games for ABC and NBC during this period.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,667
I like Michaels, Collinsworth is smart but hasn't been the same to me since the "Tom, look me in the eyes..." moment during the Seattle Super Bowl. I find him just constantly pushing how great everything is all the time and nothing is ever bad. He can point out some in-depth stuff but he's also prone to hyperbole.

I voted for Harlan and Gannon; I like Harlan a lot and Gannon is okay, but not anything special.

Tirico might be the best play-by-play guy in the business but doesn't call a lot of games right now.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,617
Dennis Miller was better than all 3 of the MNF crew. They are awful.


I like Al enough to get over my dislike of CC. Don’t like Buck but like Aikman

Nantz and Jerry’s kid are ok too
 

NortheasternPJ

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Tony Romo is the only broadcaster to ever make me mute a Patriots game. He's the worst.

"ohh Jim, look at this!"
"Jim, looks like a run! Let's see what they do here!"
"oohhhh ahhhhhh ahhh ohh ahhh ahh i Think it's a fumble!"
"Jim this is a pass coming up, look at the 1 on 1 coverage!!!!" - Nantz "Run up the middle for 5 yards"

If he said half as many words i'd be fine, but he like listening to a 14 year old call a football game. He's got some great insight, he just needs to say half as much.

Give me Harlan any day of the week and any color guy not Romo. I'd rather listen to Dierdorf. Almost everything he said was dumb, but he talked 30% of the time Romo does.

Romo is as overrated as a broadcaster as he was underrated as a QB.
 

mauidano

Mai Tais for everyone!
SoSH Member
Aug 21, 2006
35,626
Maui
Tony Romo is the only broadcaster to ever make me mute a Patriots game. He's the worst.

"ohh Jim, look at this!"
"Jim, looks like a run! Let's see what they do here!"
"oohhhh ahhhhhh ahhh ohh ahhh ahh i Think it's a fumble!"
"Jim this is a pass coming up, look at the 1 on 1 coverage!!!!" - Nantz "Run up the middle for 5 yards"

If he said half as many words i'd be fine, but he like listening to a 14 year old call a football game. He's got some great insight, he just needs to say half as much.

Give me Harlan any day of the week and any color guy not Romo. I'd rather listen to Dierdorf. Almost everything he said was dumb, but he talked 30% of the time Romo does.

Romo is as overrated as a broadcaster as he was underrated as a QB.
Although Romo at times has some good insight, he always sounds like he is a two pack a day smoker and his voice can be grating.

I actually spent a day with Dan Fouts as the MC for a Super Bowl viewing corporate event with Dan Fouts as the analyst. He was kind of a dick. He did give me an autographed 8 x 10 of himself without me asking. It's at the bottom of a box somewhere in my closet.

My wife is irritated by Cris Collinsworth. She thinks "definitive" is his favorite word. Do like Al Michaels a lot. Spent some time with him as well and is a genuinely nice guy.
 

Nator

Member
SoSH Member
Michaels is the gold standard.

I like Burkhardt for my second choice. He's got good pipes and is maybe a little more low-key than some would like, but that's refreshing in a world of PbP announcers trying to get their over-the-top play call audio immortalized after every 20+ yard gain.

I also wish they'd find some one better for Ian Eagle. I think he's a fine announcer, but he's pulled into a vortex of suck by the pud they stick in the booth with him.
 

allstonite

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 27, 2010
2,472
My grandfather randomly asked me this during one of the Thanksgiving games. He used it as a jumping off point for a rant against Nantz, who he despises which was shocking because he's an old white golf fan. I said Michaels and Collinsworth despite CC's smarmyness and Seattle Super Bowl performance. I love Michaels

-Romo is totally overrated in my opinion. I don't care that he tries to call the play because, sure, he gets it right sometimes. But he also gets it wrong and it's distracting.
-I like Harlan and Gannon just fine. Nothing special but they don't bother me which is a plus, given some of the competition.
-My grandfather's favorite announcer was Ian Eagle and I agree he's pretty good but he's saddled with Fouts.
-Joe Buck partially won me over with his performances on Pardon My Take but I'm back to hating him. Him asking about a flag after Zeke jumped in the Salvation Army pot after a TD was obnoxious. It seemed like a joke at first but he kept going on about it. "I don't know Joe does that count as a prop?"
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,054
Hingham, MA
The real problem with these options are the analysts. The play by play are mostly pretty good. Michaels. Buck. Harlan. Eagle. By the color guys just suck. Collinsworth is the best of a bad batch but agree with the "look me in the eye" and everything is super duper awesome all the time. Aikman often sounds confused because he is often confused. Fouts LOL. Gannon is ok I guess. Trent Green meh. MNF tire fire.
 

Vinho Tinto

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 9, 2003
7,046
Auburn, MA
Al Michaels is still my favorite PBP, but Nantz has won me over the years. He calls a good game and tends to nail the big moments. I’d like him more if he gave up the final four gig. It ends up being a lot of Jim Nantz from Sept-April between the NFL, NCAA tournament, and the Masters.
 

Bergs

funky and cold
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2005
21,612
I went with Harlan/Gannon. Collinsworth used to be decent but he is unlistenably bad now. I do like Michaels, though.

Also, the MNF option listed is bad enough, but the reality is that it's Tessitore/Witten/Mcfarland, not Tessitore/Witten. That is the worst team ever assembled to announce a football game at any level.
 

bankshot1

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 12, 2003
24,651
where I was last at
As (mostly) Patriots fans were spoiled, as we usualy get the "A" team. Having said that I'm sick of Nantz, as we've seen him seemingly every Sunday for the past two decades. Romo hasn't worn out his welcome yet (I thought Simms was terrible). I'd rate Michaels and Collingsworth the gold standard and then Buck and Aikman. I find my sensitivity to gaffes etc. are correlated with whether these teams are doing Pats game.

Thanks God Breen doesn't do football.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 30, 2003
61,996
New York City
Jim Nantz is the most grating announcer in sports. He routinely ruins big moments, in a variety of sports. He annually makes the Masters (one of my favorite events in sports) harder to watch than it otherwise would be if he wasn't involved. He should go away, yesterday. He never will, however.

I really like Buck. And Michaels is still incredible after all these years.
 

NortheasternPJ

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Jim Nantz is the most grating announcer in sports. He routinely ruins big moments, in a variety of sports. He annually makes the Masters (one of my favorite events in sports) harder to watch than it otherwise would be if he wasn't involved. He should go away, yesterday. He never will, however.

I really like Buck. And Michaels is still incredible after all these years.
He also has a picture of how he likes his toast cooked and when he goes out to breakfast gives the waiter a picture of the toast to bring to the cook to show them exactly like how he likes it cooked.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,617
He also has a picture of how he likes his toast cooked and when he goes out to breakfast gives the waiter a picture of the toast to bring to the cook to show them exactly like how he likes it cooked.
You’re saying “also” but this sounds like a “but”

“I hear what you’re saying about his broadcasting BUT listen to this awesome toast thing”
 

E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 25, 2002
90,014
Oregon
Also, the MNF option listed is bad enough, but the reality is that it's Tessitore/Witten/Mcfarland, not Tessitore/Witten. That is the worst team ever assembled to announce a football game at any level.
Poor Al

 

Dollar

Member
SoSH Member
May 5, 2006
11,086
I dream of a Michaels-Aikman broadcast booth. For now though, I voted Buck-Aikman.

I think Aikman is by far the best analyst out there, and Buck is fine. Five years ago I would have taken Collinsworth, but he has started to really annoy me the past few years.
 

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

has big, douchey shoulders
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jim Nantz is the most grating announcer in sports. He routinely ruins big moments, in a variety of sports. He annually makes the Masters (one of my favorite events in sports) harder to watch than it otherwise would be if he wasn't involved. He should go away, yesterday. He never will, however.

I really like Buck. And Michaels is still incredible after all these years.
There are few things on this site that entertain me more than your hatred for Nantz.
 

dcmissle

Deflatigator
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 4, 2005
28,269
Al Michaels is still my favorite PBP, but Nantz has won me over the years. He calls a good game and tends to nail the big moments. I’d like him more if he gave up the final four gig. It ends up being a lot of Jim Nantz from Sept-April between the NFL, NCAA tournament, and the Masters.
What Al Michaels has done over 41 years of network announcing, and what he continues to do at age 74, is quite something. His first job in television was picking women contestants for The Dating Game. Figures. I love everything about the man.
 

mikeot

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2006
8,147
Buck-Aikman. Michaels lost me when he dissed Kerry on air during the ‘04 campaign and I still can’t stomach Nanz for all that Manning ballwashing.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,667
Buck-Aikman. Michaels lost me when he dissed Kerry on air during the ‘04 campaign and I still can’t stomach Nanz for all that Manning ballwashing.
I don’t mind Nantz since Manning retired; but the ballwashing during his final miracle season was ridiculous, Manning couldn’t throw the ball with any zip past ten yards and the announcers stepped around it at every point.

During their first season together Nantz was clearly jealous of the attention Romo was getting and it created a tremendously entertaining dynamic.
 

Sox and Rocks

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2013
5,826
Northern Colorado
I'm the only one who voted for Tessitore/Whitten. I stand by it. Tessitore is good.

Harlan/Gannon are good, and so are Michaels and Collinsworth. Buck and Aikman are okay. Nantz and Romo are terrible, particularly Romo, who has good insight but exaggerates his voice and excitement level. Fouts is horrible.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,617
I'm the only one who voted for Tessitore/Whitten. I stand by it. Tessitore is good.

Harlan/Gannon are good, and so are Michaels and Collinsworth. Buck and Aikman are okay. Nantz and Romo are terrible, particularly Romo, who has good insight but exaggerates his voice and excitement level. Fouts is horrible.

Witten is so bad he makes me hate Tess by association. That MNF production is a disaster.
 

Byrdbrain

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
8,588
I'm the only one who voted for Tessitore/Whitten. I stand by it. Tessitore is good.

Harlan/Gannon are good, and so are Michaels and Collinsworth. Buck and Aikman are okay. Nantz and Romo are terrible, particularly Romo, who has good insight but exaggerates his voice and excitement level. Fouts is horrible.
Holy crap Tessitore is absolutely awful and Whiten is almost as bad.
I can’t stand Eagle/Fouts and I’d take them 100 games in a row if it meant I didn’t have to listen to Tess.
 

The Social Chair

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 17, 2010
6,082
Buck and Aikman. Michaels has lost his fastball and Collinsworth just gets on my nerves.

Aikman is really vanilla but he doesn't bring the broadcast down. I thought their call of Pats/Falcons was really strong.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,667
Buck and Aikman. Michaels has lost his fastball and Collinsworth just gets on my nerves.

Aikman is really vanilla but he doesn't bring the broadcast down. I thought their call of Pats/Falcons was really strong.
I’ll remember after the Pats tied the game and Aikman just kind of let out a breath of amazement and said “You just never count Tom Brady out.” It means a little bit more when you can blow away the Hall of Famers like that.
 

j-man

Member
Dec 19, 2012
3,646
Arkansas
i was going to be a broadcaster if i did not develop chronic fatigue

the fans would had enjoy my takes but teams would hate my picking them apart and no ball washing players
 

glennhoffmania

meat puppet
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 25, 2005
8,411,586
NY
I don't understand what the look me in the eye nonsense four years ago has to do with whether Collinsworth is a good announcer today. Either he is or he isn't. Whether he was mean to Brady has nothing to do with it. Collinsworth is easily the best analyst we've had in a while, only because Mike Mayock doesn't do games anymore for some reason. Aikman and Romo sounds like idiots in comparison.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,428
Mike Mayock has a "law professor I told you so" tone that I despise outside of the draft.
 

Marciano490

Urological Expert
SoSH Member
Nov 4, 2007
62,312
I feel about sports broadcaster like I do about place kickers - how are there so few people in the country who can do a decent job at this? The only thing I enjoy is Michaels talking about betting.

Edit - I wish Mauro Ranallo did football. I think he’s the best sports announcer of this generation. By far. The documentary on him was very interesting too.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,617
I feel about sports broadcaster like I do about place kickers - how are there so few people in the country who can do a decent job at this? The only thing I enjoy is Michaels talking about betting.

Edit - I wish Mauro Ranallo did football. I think he’s the best sports announcer of this generation. By far. The documentary on him was very interesting too.

I might have asked you this before. Did you see when Crocop pranked him? Was that in the documentary?
 

chilidawg

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 22, 2015
5,934
Cultural hub of the universe
No love for Dick Stockton?

Boy it's hard to give unqualified love to any of these pairs. MNF is truly awful. I voted Nantz/Romo because I like Romo and can put up with Nantz now that Manning is gone.
 

kenneycb

Hates Goose Island Beer; Loves Backdoor Play
SoSH Member
Dec 2, 2006
16,089
Tuukka's refugee camp
I like Joe Buck. May be mental conditioning but games feel more important when he calls them. And he knows how to not step on the moment anymore, Vikings-Saints being a great example.
 
I've got a million thoughts I could share in this regard, but I'll confine myself to a few:

--Knowledge married with joie de vivre goes an awfully long way for me. Romo sounds like a giddy schoolboy at times, and Collinsworth's folksy "I don't know, Al..."-type delivery has been lampooned by Bill Simmons to great effect, but both guys are able to convince me each and every time out that they love the game and know the game inside out. (I voted Nantz/Romo and Michaels/Collinsworth in the poll.) In contrast, there are a few guys like Thom Brennaman out there who seem to aggressively dislike many of the games they're commentating on - Mark Lawrenson, the BBC soccer analyst, is another who springs readily to mind in this regard. It absolutely crushes my soul to hear that sort of attitude on the air.

--Speaking as a commentator, the ability of fans - SoSHers included - to hold grudges against commentators frightens the hell out of me. I think it was Collinsworth who when being interviewed by Simmons said that fans of all 32 teams think he's biased against their team and/or biased toward their least favorite teams. I mean, I think Collinsworth's "I looked him in the eye..." stuff from the Super Bowl was a mistake, but some of you guys would derive so much more enjoyment from his work if you could forgive him for it.

--Cognitive skills diminish over time. To address @chilidawg's above question, I never really rated Dick Stockton in the pantheon of great commentators myself - e.g., his call of Fisk's Game 6 homer in 1975 is one of the all-time worst calls of a great sporting moment (particularly the way he says "home run") - but it's clear to me that he's way below his peak. I think Michaels has slowed ever-so-slightly himself, but far less so than Stockton.

--Speaking of Michaels, it amazes me how much he controls his voice during games: no good commentator says "touchdown" less excitably and in a lower-pitched tone relative to the rest of the words which came before it as often as he does. (Pat Summerall maybe did, back in the day; Joe Buck certainly did when he was younger, but not in a good way.) And yet, he does this without sounding any less enthusiastic than his peers, and without any condescension. I don't quite know how he does it, although it helps that he's got a great set of pipes. You compare Michaels against guys like Tessitore and Gus Johnson, who make getting a first down on 3rd and 6 seem analogous to landing on the moon...well, I don't even need to end that sentence, do I?

--Joe Buck has gotten a *lot* better down the years. I think his voice is much harsher on the ears than Nantz's and Michaels', but I think he's now getting the most out of it, and his sense of humor can be really underrated at times.

--"Gumbel/Green" in the poll should read "Gumbel/Green/Arians". (Greg Gumbel hasn't exactly been blessed with the best partners down the years, has he?)

--I think about Randy Witten as a commentator the way I think about young quarterbacks operating in Jeff Fisher offenses: we'll never really know how good he is until he's got a new coaching staff and new talent around him. I wonder how he would have fared alongside Sean McDonough, who I rate very highly in all areas except at the very end of games when making the calls that people remember the most.