FOX Sports rules analyst Mike Pereira has announced he will be back on FOX Sports football coverage. Pereira, who started with FOX Sports in 2010, missed last season due to major back surgery. The former NFL Vice President of Officiating posted on his X account he would be back to work starting this weekend in his role as Head of Officiating for the United Football Leage (UFL).
“About 6 months ago, I posted that I was going to take a year off at Fox due to back surgery,” he wrote. “Five months ago I had my back fused on 7 levels, T11 to S1. 8 1/2 hours of surgery! In recovery, they asked me what my goals were. I gave them two. First was to be able to walk again…
“Second was I want to get back to work again. Well, I am walking a couple of miles a day and doing a lot of PT. And…I’m going back to work tomorrow doing two UFL games on Fox starting at 1pm Eastern. I’ve made it and will be back this fall doing college and NFL games.
“I want to thank all of you who sent positive messages to me constantly including family and friends. You motivated me more than you know. I’m indebted to you all! I’m back! (like it or not).”
The hiring of Pereira as a rules analyst was considered groundbreaking at the time. FOX became the first network to have a dedicated rules analyst before CBS, NBC, ESPN and Amazon all hired analysts of their own.
