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1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
–
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...
, the
NBC Radio Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...
was the official, national radio provider for
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
games. The program succeeded (and was itself, ultimately succeeded by) the
CBS Radio Network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. ...
's package.


Background

On March 6, 1985,
NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first tw ...
and the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
entered into a two-year agreement granting NBC the radio rights to a 37-game package in each of the
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
– 1986 seasons. The package included 27 regular season games and 10 postseason games.


Prior to 1985

NBC Radio, as early as 1934, had carried a handful of NFL games; it was particularly associated with carrying the
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...
' annual Thanksgiving contests nationwide since their inception, helping to establish the Lions as a permanent part of the Thanksgiving tradition. On April 5, 1961, NBC was awarded a two-year contract for radio and television rights to the NFL Championship Game for US$615,000 annually, $300,000 of which was to go directly into the NFL Player Benefit Plan. From the
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...
– 1976 seasons, NBC Radio alternated with CBS Radio in coverage of the Super Bowl. After sharing coverage of
Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at the ...
, NBC Radio would go on to broadcast only odd numbered Super Bowls. Jim Simpson served as the play-by-play man for all of NBC Radio's broadcasts (with the exceptions of
Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
, which was called by Charlie Jones and Super Bowl V, which was called by Jay Randolph) during this era. Simpson, Jones and Randolph were joined on color commentary by George Ratterman (Super Bowls I and
III III or iii may refer to: Companies * Information International, Inc., a computer technology company * Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company * 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company Other uses * ...
),
Pat Summerall George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall ann ...
(
Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
), Al DeRogatis ( Super Bowl V),
Kyle Rote William Kyle Rote, Sr. (October 27, 1928 – August 15, 2002) was an American football player, a running back and receiver for eleven years in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants. He was an All-American running back at S ...
(
Super Bowl VII Super Bowl VII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
), and John Brodie (Super Bowls IX and XI). For their coverage of
Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
at the end of the 1968 season, NBC used Pat Summerall (best known for his work for CBS and subsequently, Fox) to provide an "NFL prospective" on the coverage. This was due in part to the fact that NBC was at the time, the network television provider of the
American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
(whereas CBS was the network television provider for the pre-merger
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
). In return, for CBS Radio's coverage of Super Bowls I, II and IV, they used
Tom Hedrick Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...
, normally the radio voice of the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...
, to provide an "AFL perspective" for their coverage.


Ratings

In January 1986, NBC Radio figures indicated an audience of 10 million for their coverage
Super Bowl XX Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
between the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...
and
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
. In 1987, NBC Radio's broadcast of
Super Bowl XXI Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...
between the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
and
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
was heard by a record 10.1 million people.


Announcers


Play-by-play

# Don Criqui #
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
# Marty Glickman (1985)/Tom Davis (1986)


Color commentary

# Bob Trumpy # Dave Rowe # Stan White Bob Trumpy also hosted a national, postgame call-in show called ''NFL Live''. ''NFL Live'' would officially become the name of the
pregame show A pre-game, pregame, or pre-match show is a television or radio presentation that occurs immediately before the live broadcast of a major sporting event. They typically feature previews and analysis relating to upcoming games (either a larger f ...
for the ''NFL on NBC'' television program. As the lead broadcast team, Criqui and Trumpy were responsible for calling ''Monday Night Football'' and the Super Bowl. They performed these duties in tandem with their assignments on television; at the time Trumpy served as Criqui's analyst on Sunday afternoons.


Thanksgiving Day series


1985

# Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy (
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
vs.
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...
) #
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
vs. St. Louis Cardinals)


1986

# Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy (
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
vs. Green Bay) #
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
vs.
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
)


Playoffs


=1985–86

=


Wild Card playoffs

#
Joe McConnell Joseph Fredrick McConnell (March 10, 1939 – April 8, 2018) was an American sports announcer. Early life and career McConnell was born in Rochester, Indiana and grew up in Goodland, Indiana. He was a 1962 graduate of Franklin College (Indian ...
/ Stan White (
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
vs.
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...
) # Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy (
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
vs.
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
)


Divisional playoffs

# Marty Glickman/ Stan White (
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
vs.
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
) #
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
vs.
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
) # Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy (
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
vs.
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
) #
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
vs. Los Angeles Raiders)


Conference Championships

#
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
vs.
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
) # Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy (
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
vs.
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
)


=1986–1987

=


Wild Card playoffs

# Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy (
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...
vs.
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...
) #
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
vs.
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
)


Divisional playoffs

#Tom Davis/ Stan White (
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
vs.
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...
) #
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
vs.
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
) # Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy (
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
vs.
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
) #
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
vs.
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
)


Conference Championships

#
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Dave Rowe (
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
vs.
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
) # Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy (
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
vs.
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
)


Pro Bowl


1986

# Don Criqui/ Bob Trumpy


1987

#
Mel Proctor Mel Proctor is an American television sportscaster, actor, and book author. Biography A Denver, Colorado native, Proctor has called play-by-play for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles C ...
/ Bob Trumpy


NBC's later relationship with the NFL

NBC Radio was bought by Westwood One in 1987, shortly after NBC Radio lost NFL rights. Additionally, Westwood One has owned the rights (either alone or in conjunction with CBS) to broadcast NFL games since NBC Radio lost them, and generally broadcast NFL games under the title ''CBS Radio Sports'' in conjunction with
CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...
. Westwood One (along with its NFL rights) was acquired by Dial Global in 2011, and following the 2011 postseason Dial Global retired the Westwood One branding. In 2012, Dial Global announced it would be the distributor for
NBC Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio was a sports radio network that debuted on September 4, 2012. The network content was produced by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and distributed by Westwood One, which is the corporate successor to the remains of ...
programming once the network launched in 2013. Though Dial Global changed its name to back to Westwood One in 2013, the organization distributed NBC Sports Radio programs from 2013 to 2020. Through this period, though NBC Sports Radio aired general discussion of NFL games and news, broadcast coverage of live NFL games continued to be carried solely by the national program '' NFL on Westwood One Sports'' and local radio broadcasters. However, Westwood One does presently acknowledge the NBC Radio broadcasts in 1986 as part of the entire history of the network's football coverage.


''NBC NFL Sunday'' (2006 radio program)

NBC Television broadcast at least some NFL games every season from 1965 to 1997, when they lost the rights to carry the
American Football Conference The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference ...
package to CBS. In
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...
, the NBC television network resumed their National Football League coverage under the '' NBC Sunday Night Football'' umbrella. As part of the relaunch of their coverage, NBC became a co-producer of Westwood One's radio pregame/highlight show ''NFL Sunday'', adding the network's name to the coverage and turning it into an abbreviated radio version of '' Football Night in America''. Al Trautwig hosted the show for the first several weeks of the season before being taken off the coverage for unspecified reasons. Chris Carlin subbed for Trautwig for a week before
Scott Graham Scott Graham (born June 10, 1965) is an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of the Philadelphia Phillies, his work with NFL Films, and his studio hosting of '' The NFL on Westwood One''. He has lived and worked near Philadelphia ...
took over the hosting duties and continued to helm the show for the remainder of the season. In addition to the typical ''NFL Sunday'' score rundown and a preview of the game ahead, NBC analysts (usually Jerome Bettis or Cris Collinsworth) would provide commentary. After the 2006 season, Westwood One returned ''NFL Sunday'' to its previous format and ended the co-production arrangement with NBC.


References


External links


"MNF" on NBC Radio – announcers?Sports Broadcast History Forums

1985 NFL Commentator Crews (from Timmy)

1986 NFL Commentator Crews (from Timmy)
{{NFL on NBC Radio National Football League on the radio NBC Radio Sports American sports radio programs NBC radio programs 1985 radio programme debuts 1987 radio programme endings 1980s American radio programs
Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...