NEW ORLEANS—This Super Bowl Sunday marks the conclusion of Fox NFL Sunday‘s 31st season. The 1994-debuted pregame show has long had an incredibly stable cast: Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long have been there since the start, as has Jimmy Johnson (except for a 1996-1999 return to coaching). While Rob Gronkowski is newer (arriving in 2022), Michael Strahan’s been there since 2008, and host Curt Menefee has been there since 2006 after James Brown left to return to CBS.
That’s remarkable consistency in sports television. And a big part of that consistency, with Bradshaw, Long, and Johnson, was already well-established even when now long-time voices like Menefee came in.
Menefee told Awful Announcing at Fox Sports’ Super Bowl LIX Media Day Thursday that he had some nerves sliding into that chair, and famed Fox Sports president David Hill didn’t exactly calm them down.
“When you’re starting out, you’re just trying to prove yourself and hope you fit in,” Menefee said. “When I showed up, you know, they had already been going, Terry, Howie, and Jimmy for the most part, he went to coach Miami but came back, but they had been going for 12 years at that point. And so I remember when I got the gig and I asked David Hill, who was running Fox Sports at the time, I was like, ‘What’s your advice for me?’ He goes, ‘Don’t f*ck it up.’ I go, ‘Okay, all right.'”
Menefee said that initially made him a bit tentative. But he said he’s grown much more comfortable in his hosting role over the almost two decades since then.
“At that point, you’re a little nervous. And then the perspective changes. This is my 19th season now, so I’m definitely much more confident. I feel like I’ve got maybe a little bit more of a directional role in helping the way that the show goes. And guys, listen and follow.”
He said the other big change for him has been the slight casting changes over the past few years, with Gronkowski’s addition and fellow Fox colleagues Tom Brady and Julian Edelman showing up as frequent guests.
“Over the last couple of years we have a little bit of transition starting to happen that wasn’t there. It was stable with Terry, Howie, Michael, and Jimmy forever. I mean, Michael’s 17 years was the youngest until two or three years ago.
“Then we added Gronk. And now Edelman comes on the show and Brady comes on the show, you know, not many non-Patriots. But we have a lot of different faces. So you wind up juggling a lot more rather than just having the same four or five core guys.”
FOX NFL Sunday has found remarkable success in the ratings year after year, winning the battle of pregame shows every year of its run to date. Long told AA their cast’s chemistry is key to that success, and that also shows up off the air.
“From the minute I walk in the building to the minute I leave, if you think it’s funny on air, it’s more so. The green room, car rides, plane rides, when you’re on the road, the NFC Championship game, or Super Bowls, we laugh so hard. I mean, genuinely hard.”
Beyond the laughter, the show’s cast has often shown how much they truly care for each other. That was perhaps especially true with Bradshaw’s 2022 revelation of his cancer battle and with the cast’s on-air support for him. But it’s also been seen in moments like how insider Jay Glazer (on the show since 2007) has cited the support he’s received from Menefee and Long in handling criticism.
And Long said the deep friendships between the cast are key to their unique chemistry.
“I think you have to really grow to love one another,” he said. “We all come from different backgrounds; we’re all different personalities. And I think we caught lightning in a bottle. People have been trying to catch it in other places for 31 years.”
He said the main panel analysts (Johnson, Bradshaw, himself, Strahan, and the 35-year-old Gronkowski) are remarkable for how they can connect, bond, and produce an interesting show despite those age gaps.
“Listen, we’ve got an 81-year-old, a 75-year-old, a 65-year-old, and a 53-year-old, and Gronk. I’m not sure how old Gronk is. But it’s interesting that it still fascinates people. And we don’t take that for granted.”
Menefee said the show still works because even those who have retired from playing or coaching careers still work to stay in touch with the game.
“I think part of it is that they stay fresh, they stay current. Jimmy will tell you he talks to coaches or has them down to the Keys in the offseason all the time. Terry keeps up with what’s going on. Howie, everybody knows what a study nerd he is. So I think that that makes it easier, because they’re always engaged in what’s going on in the current NFL. They’re not always referring to, ‘Well, back when I played 20 years ago or whatever.’ They don’t have to be stuck in the past, and that makes it easier for me.”
Johnson attributes the show’s continued success to the talent both in front of and behind the camera.
“We’ve got great talent, you know. And not only the talent with Terry Bradshaw, Michael Strahan, Curt Menefee, and Howie Long. We’ve got great talent as far as our producers and our directors, we’ve got great leadership with Eric Shanks. Bill Richards is one of the great producers in the country.”
There are some potential changes ahead for Fox NFL Sunday.
Bradshaw (honored with his own day in New Orleans Wednesday, partly thanks to the Shreveport, LA native winning a Super Bowl in the Big Easy in 1975) said this week he wants to stay on the show for four more years, but he’s only under contract for two. And Johnson’s age is often discussed. And he said Thursday he’s not even certain he’ll return to the show next season.
“I used to say ‘One more year,’ and then it got to be, ‘Well, I don’t know,’ and now it’s ‘One more day at a time.’ I never know. I’ll just see how I feel here going into next year.”
But Johnson said he is still highly passionate about football even 31 years after starting on this pregame show and would watch a ton of football even if he retired.
“I love the game of football. I watch every college game there is on TV. I watch every pro game. If I wasn’t doing Fox NFL Sunday, I’d still be watching football.”
For now, though, Johnson and the rest of the cast are wrapping up another year of Fox NFL Sunday. And they’ll be on the air for five and a half hours of pregame coverage starting at 1 p.m. ET Sunday and will be concluding that 31st season of leading the pregame show ratings.
Therefore, it can be surmised that Menefee has adhered to Hill’s advice.