Chris Myers is in his 15th season as a full-time play-by-play broadcaster with FOX and he has seen his share of large sports moments with the network, but one sport outshines them all.
Myers spoke to Awful Announcing and talked about his time with FOX in which he has called or hosted events including the the Daytona 500, sidelining BCS bowl games and the National Championship and interviewing players moments before the Super Bowl.
“I have a corny saying when I started in broadcasting,” Myers began, “I’d always say ‘Every night’s the Super Bowl.’ They’d always teach me about that.”
Myers told the story of the one time the Super Bowl stage caused him to freeze on camera, in 2005 before Super Bowl XXXIX between the Patriots and Eagles.
“So I’m interviewing Troy Brown live right before kickoff, ” Myers said, “and (FOX Producer Richard) Zyontz said ‘Hey, just be quick and be brief and get a comment from him,’ and as they’re counting down, I tell Troy Brown ‘Hey, I know you’ve got a game to play,’ and I could feel his energy, he was a key player for the Patriots. And I say ‘No need to be nervous, I’m just going to ask you a couple of questions real quick, even though there are millions watching.’”
“And I’m telling him ‘This is the most-watched event,’ and as I’m telling him, I’m starting to get nervous. And they threw down to me, ‘Okay, Chris, go,’ and I froze, and they’re in my ear like ‘Chris! Chris!’ And Troy Brown had to like, smack me with his shoe to be like ‘Chris, let’s go!’ And then I went like, ‘Oh, yeah, hey, this is a big game!’ I don’t even remember what I asked him.”
That moment and countless others in Myers career are what he recalls when thinking about the most exciting events he’s been a part of in his career.
“The rush of an NFL game, I’ve got to tell you,” Myers said, “I’ve always loved events and interviewing athletes and coaches and people in and around sports, but there’s really nothing like the NFL. I guess it’s my first love, growing up around football and the NFL. The rush of calling a NFL game, I felt this even before it became America’s most popular sport, there’s really nothing like it. You prepare, but there’s such unpredictability and such star power. And the size of the audience, and the fan reaction, to me, that’s one of the great things.”
