The National Football League is the highest-watched sport in the USA with an average of 17.1 million viewership on television and digital platforms. Per ESPN, in the 2022-23 season, the NFL games were watched by 185 million people at some time during the long 18 weeks of football.
NBC football announcers Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth cover NFL games in 2023. Chris Schenkel announced the 1958 Championship game.
With a huge fandom and viewership demand, many corporate news networks have established their coverage for the NFL.
ESPN, Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC are the leaders in it. Moreover, Amazon Prime has also started streaming Thursday night games.
NBC has exclusive rights to broadcast the primetime Sunday Night Football, including the NFL’s Kickoff game and the Thanksgiving day match.
The network has hired many talented announcers to host their football sessions. These are the 10 NBC football announcers of all time.
10. Jac Collinsworth
Jack Collinsworth has been the co-host of Football Night in America since 2020.
The 27-year-old is the youngest on the list and has made quite a versatile career at NBC. He is also the play-by-play announcer of NBC Sports’ Notre Dame football coverage since 2022.
Jac made his big NFL coverage debut during the 2022 Super Bowl LVI Pre-game show as its co-host.
Before his hosting career, he worked as a sideline reporter for NBC from 2013 to 2017.
The son of Cincinnati Bengals legend and NBC analyst Chris Collinsworth, Jac has followed in the footsteps of his father by pursuing his profession and excelling in it.
Jac already has amassed 2 million dollars of earnings from his career.
Due to his young age and already achieving a position in NBC’s football show, we will continue to see Jac’s NFL life as an announcer.
9. Charlie Jones
Charlie Jones joined the NBC network in 1965 to broadcast AFL and NFL.
Jones was the play-by-play announcer of the 1969 Super Bowl III match between the New York Jets and the Baltimore Colts. This match also was recorded as the first win an AFL team had gotten over NFL.
He covered the AFL for NBC from 1965-1969 and then made coverages for NFL till 1997.
Charlies’s memorable moment came during the 1993 wild card match between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers. That match was spectacular and got to be known as “The Comeback” in NFL history. He had the privilege to be the announcer for that game.
Alongside his NFL duties, Charlie has also called 25 college bowl matches like the 1987 Sunkiest Fiesta Bowl and the ‘Game of the Century’ match in 1993 between Notre Dame and Florida State.
For his valiant sportscaster role on NBC Sports, he received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 1997.
Charlie also made a career earnings of 1 million dollars from his NBC career in the 1980s-90s.
8. Tony Dungy
Tony Dungy joined the Football Night in America NBC show in 2009.
After joining the show, Tony got nominated for the Sports Emmy Award in his first year, making for a rare and exceptional accomplishment.
His major broadcasting career highlight came when Dungy got the opportunity to serve as the studio analyst for NBC’s Super Bowl XLIX show. This program became the most-watched program in the USA’s TV history.
Moreover, Tony has also been the studio analyst during the Super Bowl XLVI and Super Bowl LII. He recently made the analyst role in the Super Bowl LVI Pre-game show on 13th February 2022 for the match of LA rams against Cincinnati Bengals.
In January 2023, Dungy was selected to call the wild card match between the Jacksonville Jaguars and LA Chargers on NBC Saturday Night show. The NBC legend AI Michaels was there to call alongside him.
Tony also stated to the Philadelphia Inquirer how he was excited to work with Michaels to call such an important game.
As a former safety and coach, Tony has accumulated more than 30 years of experience in the NFL. His experiences have made him eligible for a greater depth of knowledge regarding NFL players and their strategies.
From his broadcast career, Tony has earned a wealth of 5 million dollars.
USA Today once stated that “Tony morphed from a Super Bowl coach to becoming the voice and conscience of the NFL.”
7. Bob Costas
Bob Costas joined NBC Sports in 1980 when he was 28-year-old.
Costas was one of the hosts of the Sunday Night Football in the 2015 Super XLIX, between the Patriots and Seahawks. This program made it to the list of one of the most viewed shows in the USA’s television history with a 114.4 million audience.
Along with the XLIX, Bob has hosted five other super bowls in his sportscasting career.
Costas also got an opportunity to be involved in the Super Bowl XXIII commercial, for the first introduction of Bud Bowl I.
Moreover, he also introduced the first 3D advertisement for Diet Coke in that year’s Super Bowl half-time show. Coke had also distributed its 3-D glasses to the spectators, making for a strange game. Per the Washington Post, Bob described that bowl as the proudest moment of his life.
Bob was appointed to become the host of the NFL on NBC show in 1984. He did play-by-play announcing along with Bob Trumpy before his hosting duties.
He left NBC in 1992 but returned in 2006 to become the host of the Sunday Night Football show. Bob started hosting the Football Night in America pre-game show from 2006 to 2016.
Finally, in January 2019, he retired from NBC Sports duties. As being illustrious announcer, he has received 28 Emmy Awards.
Bob had an annual salary of 7 million dollars in his later career.
6. Merlin Olsen
Merlin Olsen joined NBC Sports in 1977 and worked there as its sports analyst.
He made a partnership with Dick Endberg to become the leading announcer at NBC at that time. Merlin covered the AFC Championships during the 1970s and 1980s.
Olsen had the privilege to announce the plays of 4 Super Bowls on NBC.
His notable moment came in 1983 Super Bowl XVII when Merlin was the announcer for the match between the Miami Dolphins and Wahington Redskins in the strike-shortened season. The NFL Players Association had made financial demands, which led to the season being reduced to just 9 games.
Moreover, Merlin also made calls for nine Rose Bowls in the 1980s. In in1980, he made his first Rose Bowl appearance by calling the match of USC Trojans against Ohio State Buckeyes.
Merlin got replaced by Bill Walsh in 1989 as the leading color commentator. He made his last Super Bowl calling in the 1989 Super Bowl XIII match between the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers.
For his football contribution to NFL as a player and announcer, Merlin was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 1979 as well as the National College Football Hall of Fame in 1980.
Merlin had a career earnings of 4 million dollars from his broadcasting career.
5. Mike Tirico
Mike Tirico joined NBC sports in July 2016 and works in Sunday Night Football.
Mike became the play-by-play announcer for Sunday Night Football alongside his partner Cris Collinsworth in April 2022. The show has been in the prime-time No. 1 spot for 11 years continuously.
The duo traveled to the SoFI Stadium to host the NBC Sunday Night Football show in the 2022 Super Bowl LVI.
He officially replaced Bob Coasts in August 2018 to become the host of the Football Night in America show.
Tirico also worked in NBC’s Thursday Night Football show in 2017, until Fox took the license. During that year, he and his show were selected to be on the Super Bowl LII, but he personally opted to skip it for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
In the 2016-17 season, the Thursday Night Football (TNF) show became the Number 2 show on US Television followed by becoming Number 3 in 2017-18. He and Collinsworth enjoyed the success, even though it was a short stint.
After the TNF loss, Mike served in NBC’s iconic thanksgiving game show in 2018 and was joined by Tony Dungy.
In August 2017, Mike also became the play-by-play voice of the Notre Dame Football coverages for NBC Sports. However, Jac Collinsworth soon came to replace him.
His outstanding career has landed him the Sports Emmy Award in May 2022. Mike earns 6 million dollars per year at NBC.
Since he has been working in the sportscasting sector since 1991, he has gained lots of memorable moments. One particular call was the ‘Fail Mary’ in October 2015 match between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.
4. Dick Endberg
Dick Endberg joined NBC Sports in 1975 and dedicated 25 years to the network.
In his early years, he covered various sports, but in 1979, Dick became the play-by-play announcer for the NFL on NBC show in 1979. He came to the position after replacing Curt Gowdy who left for CBS.
Endberg got to call eight super bowls in his show. His last announcer appearance came in the 1998 Super Bowl XXXII where he called the play between the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers.
Enberg called one of the greatest NFL matches of all time known as “The Epic in Miami” in January 1981 between the Dolphins and San Diego Chargers. This match set a record for total combined yards and points tallied.
Dick also served as the anchor for Super Bowl XIII. He also spent calling three Canadian Football games in 1982.
Endberg was present to call the plays of the 1986 big shootout match between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins which ended 51-45.
He also had the honor of getting to announce the 1987 playoff between the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos. That match went down in history to be known as “The Fumble” due to the then-Browns Running Back Earnest Byner’s big error.
From the NBC network, Dick had around 6 million dollars earning on an annual basis.
3. Cris Collinsworth
Cris Collinsworth joined NBC Sports in 1990 to cover the network’s NFL coverages.
Cris replaced the legendary John Madden to become the analyst in Sunday Night Football (SNF) in 2009. SNF reached an average of 18.5 million television viewers in 2021, marking the success of his show.
Collinsworth made his 4th Super Bowl appearance with NBC in February 2022 for the Super Bowl LVI, along with his colleague Mike Tiricio. He also had the honor to serve as the analyst for the Super Bowl XLIX match between New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
The show raked in a massive 114.4 million viewers during this match, recording the highest viewership in US television history.
As the former wide receiver for Cincinnati Bengals from 1981 to 1988, Cris has gained lots of experience related to American football. These great years of experience have made him suitable to be charming as a football analyst.
He has been with the SNF for 14 seasons now as of 2022. Cris is also the most honored studio analyst with eight Emmy awards to his name.
Cris got the opportunity to work as an analyst in the NFL on NBC’s pre-game show in 1996. This show led him to get his first Emmy Award in 1997.
Collinsworth also worked as a sports analyst for NBC’s Thursday Night Football show in 2016 and 2017.
Along with NFL, he also covered various collegiate NCCAF events, like the 1995 Orange Bowl game of Miami Hurricanes against Nebraska Cornhuskers and the 1994 Fiesta Bowl.
Cris has been earning 12.5 million dollars as of 2023 from NBC Sports.
2. AL Michaels
AL Michaels started his career in NBC Sports in 2006.
Michaels has the record of being the announcer with the most play-by-play broadcast in television history, alongside Pat Summerall.
He did his first Super Bowl play-by-play calling for NBC in 2009 to broadcast the match between Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.
Michaels later called the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI between the Patriots and NY Giants. It was the first bowl to be played in Indiana state.
His program in the XLVI also got viewed by 111.3 million viewers and the game made the record for the most tweets during the sports event with 13 million tweets.
He also had the honor to be a host in the most watched program in the Super Bowl XLIX. This was a proud moment for him and NBC.
In 2018, Al called the Super Bowl LII for the match between Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots. The match set records with the losing team scoring the highest points, i.e. the Patriots scored 33. Moreover, per NFL, this game was one of the greatest of all time. Al had the honor to be a part of this game.
His recent appearance came when he hosted the Super LVI in February 2022.
Michaels was selected to be a host in Sunday Night Football in August 2006, following his departure from ABC. He also joined NBC’s Thursday Night Football in 2016.
He partnered with the legendary John Madden and called matches with him until April 2009. After that, he was joined by Cris Collinsworth.
In May 202, Michaels officially declared his departure from NBC Sports, but still bonded with the network via an emeritus role. For his great career in the sports network, he has received eight Emmy Awards.
Michaels had a yearly salary of 15 million dollars from his shows in the NBC Sports.
Honorable mention: John Madden
John Madden joined NBC Sports in 2006 to provide commentary on the Sunday Night Football show.
Madden announced the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. NBC’s program at this bowl reached 98 million viewers, making it the most-watched at that time.
The match was also regarded as one of the greatest games of all time. Moreover, it was also regarded as the best Super Bowl match of all time. by Bleacher Report.
Madden is the only sportscaster who has worked in all ‘big 4’ television networks in his lifetime. He spent the majority of his great broadcasting career in CBS Sports.
For his outstanding career in television, he has received sixteen Sports Emmy Awards.
John earned 9.5 million dollars per year during his time in NBC.
1. Curt Gowdy
Curt Gowdy started to work for NBC to call NFL games in 1966.
He worked in the NFL sector till 1974 and got to broadcast eight super bowls during his NBC tenure. His career there marked him as the man who brought NFL matches to the USA’s living rooms.
Curt’s major game came during the AFC divisional playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders in 1972. At that match, Curt got to call the “Immaculate Reception” play made by the Steelers.
His memorable moment came when he called the Super Bowl III match between the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets, where the favorite Colts astonishingly lost to the Jets 16-7.
Gowdy was also present to call the “Sea of hands” play made by the Miami Dolphins against the Raiders in the 1974 NFL playoffs.
He was also the show host when NBC had a technical error that saw the removal of their last-minute broadcast during the thrilling Jets vs Raiders AFL game in 1968. This match made the football community angry at NBC and later this game came to be known as the Heidi Bowl.
Curt also announced “The Longest Game Ever Played” in the 1971 AFC playoff between the Chiefs and Dolphins. This match went on for double overtime.
Curt made his final announcer appearance for NBC in the 1979 Super Bowl XIII between the Cowboys and Steelers.
Having a long career on NBC from the 1960s to 1970s with so many callings for historic memorable matches, Curt has cemented his status as the greatest football announcer on NBC.
The great NBC football announcer was later inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame in 1985 as well as the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Curt also made a career earnings of 5 million dollars in the 1970s-80s, a lot by today’s standards.