Drew Brees’ media career with NBC Sports is officially underway after the former Super Bowl winning quarterback announced his retirement from the NFL last week.
As his tenure with NBC kicks off, Brees is scheduled to work in the studio for Football Night in America and as a game analyst for Notre Dame football, also making network appearances for special events such as the Olympics or Kentucky Derby.
When the hire was announced, many thought NBC was stashing Brees away for when the network parts with their lead Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth. Some believe Brees could replace Collinsworth in the Sunday Night Football booth as soon as 2022.
But during a 30-minute news conference on Wednesday, NBC Sports’ executive producer Sam Flood quickly dispelled the notion that Brees was with the network to replace Collinsworth
“Cris remains among the best to have ever done it, and the plan is to have him in that chair for a long time,” Flood said. “So the opportunity down the road is not something we’re looking at right now.”
NBC has featured Al Michaels and Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football since 2009. And with a minimum of one year remaining for the longtime broadcast pairing, Flood’s comments on Collinsworth were somewhat predictable.
But Michaels’ contract is set to expire in 2022 and play-by-play voice Mike Tirico is expected to step into the Sunday Night Football booth. If this is his last season with NBC, a Super Bowl year would be a great parting gift. Meanwhile Brees will be working alongside Tirico for NBC’s coverage of Notre Dame football, making him a seemingly obvious choice to also be his TV partner for Sunday Night Footballfollowing a season of practice together.
Brees could take a game or two away from Collinsworth, just as Tirico did last season when he gave Al Michaels the occasional breather. Publicly, NBC Sports’ executive producer stated Collinsworth doesn’t have to worry about losing his job to Brees anytime soon. But it’s hard to imagine a network being able to justify paying an elite play-by-play voice like Tirico and a beloved Hall-of-Fame quarterback in Brees to sit on the bench for long.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
