The NFL Today
The NFL Today is an American football television program on CBS that serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the NFL on CBS brand. The program features commentary on the latest news around the NFL from its hosts and studio analysts, as well as predictions for the day's games and interviews with players and coaches. Originally debuting as Pro Football Kickoff on September 17, 1961, the program airs before all NFL games broadcast by CBS (usually on Sundays at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone), and generally runs for one hour (except for Thanksgiving and during the postseason when it is generally 30 minutes). The program's commentators also provide commentary during game updates, the halftime reports, and the postgame show on the NFL on CBS broadcasts.
The NFL Today
Pro Football Kickoff (1961–1962)
NFL Kickoff (1962–1964)
The NFL Report (1964)
The NFL Today (1964-1974; 1975-1994; 1998-present)
The NFL on CBS (September–December 1974)
See NFL on CBS music
English
56 (through 2023 season)[1]
15 minutes (1961–1967)
24 minutes (1967–1993)
60 minutes (1998–present)
September 17, 1961 –
January 23, 1994
September 6, 1998 –
present
Since 2024, the crew consists of longtime sportscaster James Brown, who has served as the host of The NFL Today since 2006; former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher; former Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson; Houston Texans legend and former defensive end J. J. Watt; and Atlanta Falcons legend, 2016 MVP, and former quarterback Matt Ryan serving as analysts.
The NFL Today broadcasts from Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City; however, the program will occasionally broadcast from the game site for the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl. The pregame telecast of the Super Bowl has sometimes been branded as The Super Bowl Today.
From 2014 to 2017, CBS partnered with the NFL Network to air selected Thursday Night Football games; the NFL GameDay crew has appeared in segments on The NFL Today for both Thursdays and Sundays (and Saturdays when applicable).
Broadcast history[edit]
Dawn of the pregame format (1961–1974)[edit]
The program began on September 17, 1961, when CBS debuted the first remote 15-minute pre-game show, the first of its kind on network sports television. Originally titled Pro Football Kickoff,[2] hosted by Johnny Lujack, the program originated from NFL stadiums around the country with a comprehensive look at the day's games. This show was succeeded in 1962 and 1963 by NFL Kickoff, with Kyle Rote serving as its host.
On September 13, 1964, Frank Gifford began hosting the renamed NFL Report, which was subsequently retitled The NFL Today later that season. This version of The NFL Today[3] was a 15-minute, regional sports program that presented interviews with NFL players and coaches, and news and features about the league. In 1967, The NFL Today expanded to a 30-minute format preceding game coverage.
On September 20, 1970, The NFL Today signed industry-pioneering women: Marjorie Margolies (later elected to Congress from Pennsylvania in 1992) produced and reported features, and actress Carole Howey, who also reported for the program.
In 1971, Jack Whitaker and Pat Summerall took over hosting duties on the program from Gifford, who left CBS to call play-by-play on ABC's Monday Night Football. In 1973, The NFL Today began originating from CBS' New York City studios; the program also began to include reports from stadiums around the country, although it continued to be pre-recorded before each week's game day.
For 1974, CBS abandoned the pre-recorded NFL Today broadcast and its short-form wrap-up show, Pro Football Report, for a live, wraparound style program titled The NFL on CBS.[4] It started a half-hour prior to kickoff of either the singleheader or doubleheader telecast (12:30, 1:30, or 3:30 p.m. Eastern). On September 15, the revamped program debuted with a new three-segment format: the first featured highlights of the day's games and commentary, special features shot during the week were broadcast during the second segment, and the third covered the day's sports news, including scores and highlights at halftime. The program's hosts were Whitaker (who was brought into the studio after quite a few years serving as a play-by-play announcer for the network's NFL broadcasts) and Lee Leonard.[4]
The program broke ground in a number of ways: it was the first live pre-game show, the first to show halftime highlights of other games televised by CBS, and the first to wrap up as a post-game show. CBS also began referring its stadium studios or its pre-game set, previously known as "CBS Control," as the "CBS Sports Center". The program also no longer featured a third member of the on-air crew stationed at CBS Control to provide scores, halftime information and – time permitting – post-game interviews, a position often held by Dick Stockton during his early days at the network.
Musburger, George and Cross (1975–1989)[edit]
The program reinstated its previous NFL Today title on the September 21, 1975 broadcast, with former WBBM-TV and KCBS-TV sportscaster/anchorman Brent Musburger (previously a play-by-play announcer for CBS) serving as host, former NFL player Irv Cross as an analyst, and former Miss America Phyllis George as one of the reporters. That year, the program won 13 Emmy Awards. Sports bookie Jimmy Snyder, nicknamed "The Greek," joined the program in 1976. Jack Whitaker also contributed to the program as an occasional reporter and essayist during this period. It was during this period that The NFL Today began an 18-year run as the highest-rated program in its time slot, lasting until the network lost the broadcast rights to Fox in 1994, the longest consecutive run for a television program in a consistent time slot.
By this time, the program began the complex process of producing three separate live pre-game, halftime and postgame programs for 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. (through 1981) and 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) games. Also for the first time, signature musical pieces are produced for NFL coverage. The show's signature theme was "Horizontal Hold," a piece by Jan Stoeckart (recorded under his pseudonym of Jack Trombey). The NFL Today was among the recipients of the Sports Emmy Awards in its inaugural event in 1979.
Phyllis George was replaced by former Miss Ohio USA Jayne Kennedy beginning with the 1978 NFL season, before George returned to the program for the 1980 NFL season. George was replaced on the program by Charlsie Cantey midway into the 1983 NFL season, after going on parental leave, with George ultimately departing the program outright.[5] Jimmy Snyder was dismissed by CBS Sports on January 16, 1988, one day after making comments about racial differences among NFL players on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Musburger announced Snyder's dismissal on The NFL Today prior to the Minnesota Vikings-Washington Redskins NFC Championship Game the next day. Snyder's slot on The NFL Today would subsequently be filled by Dick Butkus for the next two seasons.
Gumbel and Bradshaw (1990–1993)[edit]
After the 1989 NFL season, Musburger was abruptly fired on April 1, 1990, following a power shift at CBS (he later resurfaced at ABC), while Cross was demoted to the position of game analyst.[6] They were replaced by former ESPN football analyst and WFAN morning host Greg Gumbel (brother of then-Today co-host Bryant Gumbel), legendary former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw and longtime sportswriter Lesley Visser, bringing a female reporter back to The NFL Today for the first time since Super Bowl XVIII.
On December 18, 1993, the NFL awarded Fox a four-year contract (worth $1.58 billion) for the broadcast television rights to the National Football Conference (NFC), allowing that network to carry regular season and playoff games from the conference starting with the 1994 NFL season (which it continues to this day). The deal stripped CBS of NFL telecasts following the 1993 NFL season after 38 years;[7][8] as a result, The NFL Today ended its original run and CBS aired its final NFC telecast on January 23, 1994.
After CBS lost the NFL rights, Greg Gumbel went to NBC Sports, Terry Bradshaw left to become an analyst for Fox's new pre-game show Fox NFL Sunday and Lesley Visser joined ABC as a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football; Gumbel and Visser eventually returned to CBS.
CBS reacquires rights (1998–present)[edit]
The NFL Today made its return to CBS in 1998, after the network signed a contract with the NFL to acquire the broadcast rights to televise games from the American Football Conference (AFC) effective with that year's NFL season, taking over the rights from NBC.[9]