Jim Nantz on 40 years at CBS: 'I'm as passionate about it now as I was when I first started'

Jim Nantz had just finished CBS’ annual pre-NFL season announcer seminar in Manhattan last month when his thoughts turned to his first such meeting, in the 1980s.

“I still have vivid memories of what it was like and who was in the room,” he told Newsday. “I’m looking around and seeing John Madden here and Hank Stram there and oh, my gosh, there’s Pat Summerall. Brent Musburger? Are you kidding me? And I’m in this room.

“There was a lot of awe. If you just go back long ago and imagine some of the names that were in a room like this. I think about it all the time. Dick Stockton, Gary Bender . . . ”

Now, of course, younger announcers think of Nantz in that way, an iconic CBS Sports figure who is marking his 40th anniversary at the network.

He was hired on Aug. 30, 1985, an unknown out of a CBS affiliate in Salt Lake City who initially hosted the college football studio show. He first appeared on the air on Sept. 14.

Does it seem as if 40 years have gone by?

“I would say as the years pass, the recent years seem to go faster,” he said. “Thirty to 40 was a blur; one to 10 wasn’t.”

Now he is set for another season as CBS’ lead NFL play-by-play man alongside analyst Tony Romo. Age and experience have not dulled the moment.

“I love it,” he said. “I’m as passionate about it now as I was when I first started or when I was an 11-year-old boy dreaming of wanting to do this. I love it. I can’t wait for the next event, the next game.

“I love the art of storytelling and trying to shine a light on the subjects that I’m covering.”

But as much as Nantz, 66, lives in the present, there is no one in sports broadcasting who is more sentimental and nostalgic. See the roster of announcers past above.

And then this: As Nantz was noting that he will call the Bills at Jets game on Sept. 14, 40 years to the day after his debut, he decided it would be cool to stay at the New York hotel he used that weekend. He has not stayed there in years.

And this: As an 8-year-old, Nantz attended the first game in Saints history with his father, a 27-13 loss to the Rams at old Tulane Stadium.

Fifty years later to the day, on Sept. 17, 2017, he called a Patriots at Saints game in the same city, a coincidence that resonated with him.

And this: When CBS revealed plans for a throwback edition of “The NFL Today” on Sept. 21 for the pregame show’s 50th anniversary, Nantz said, “That [theme] music is powerful. It just gives you the chills hearing ‘The NFL Today’ opening.”

For many people his age, dwelling on the past can be a drag on current performance. But as he said, he is enjoying everything about the present, too. Co-workers see that in him.

“As a colleague, he’s just a normal guy,” sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said. “He becomes one of us. He’s humble. He’s a friend. He’s brilliant. He knows everyone. So you’re walking around basically with the mayor of every city you’re in. He has a million hometowns. He has relationships in every city at every restaurant. I’ve learned so much watching him and the way he prepares and the way he presents himself.”

J.J. Watt, CBS’ new No. 2 game analyst, said: “He’s just got an aura about him. It’s a word the kids use today but I think it applies extremely well to Jim Nantz. The second he walks in a room, before you even hear his voice, you feel his presence. But the second he opens his mouth, you immediately know who it is and you immediately feel the gravity of the conversation and everything that he’s done.”

Another sign that Nantz might be connected to the past but is not stuck in it: When asked for his favorite NFL memories, he mentioned three from this decade.

He recalled the Bills-Kansas City divisional-round thriller in 2022 as the best game he has seen, Super Bowl LVIII between Kansas City and San Francisco in Las Vegas in 2024 as his most enjoyable and last season’s game-winning Hail Mary from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown in the Commanders’ victory over the Bears as his favorite call.

Nantz is associated most closely with The Masters. He named Jack Nicklaus’ 1986 victory, Tiger Woods’ in 2019 and Rory McIlroy’s this year as his three favorite tournaments.

But nothing in that or any other event can top the 1992 Masters, when his college roommate at Houston, Fred Couples, won the green jacket.

“It’s so personal with Freddie winning,” Nantz said. “The story was just so great. Two kids that had a dream that ends at the same spot, Butler Cabin in a green jacket ceremony? It would be hard to top that. So that would be No. 1.”

Nantz said his nostalgia has a higher purpose: to honor the legacy of those who came before him.

“I really would like to think that I try to continue and be just a link in the chain,” he said. “Pat Summerall has never left me. Frank Glieber died in 1985 and has always been a guy who was a hero to me. Ray Scott. Of course, Jack Whitaker. And Brent. I hope I represent them well.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.