Perhaps the silver lining to Sunday’s blowout Super Bowl was that Fox was able to highlight an important member of its production crew.
With Super Bowl LIX out of reach late in the fourth quarter on Sunday night, Fox returned from a commercial break by highlighting a longtime handheld cameraman Don Cornelli. Sunday’s Super Bowl was his final broadcast before retirement.
“That’s a Hall of Famer right there,” Fox play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt began. “The great Don Cornelli, who got started in ’87 with CBS, has done as many big games as anyone. The greatest handheld cameraperson in the history of what we do.”
The broadcast then cut to Cornelli’s great shot of Devonta Smith’s long touchdown reception from earlier in the game.
“Nobody better and there might not ever be anyone better. The best,” Burkhardt concluded of Cornelli’s career.
It’s rare that a broadcast is ever able to highlight a behind-the-scenes production worker, but that’s even more the case during a Super Bowl. However, given the blowout nature of Sunday’s game, Fox was able to give Cornelli a nice send-off in his final game.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.