Jim Nantz Credit: The Dan Patrick Show

When Jim Nantz calls another Super Bowl for CBS this week in Las Vegas, his mentors and family will be with him in the broadcast booth.

They may not be there literally, but the 64-year-old Nantz is bringing symbols of his mother, father, and two late broadcasting legends into Allegiant Stadium with him on Sunday.

“I’ve been there. I’m not taking it for granted ever, I’m filled with gratitude. It’s more emotional for me that I’m doing than it is nervousness,” Nantz explained on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday. “I will have some things that calm me a little bit. I’ll bring people.”

Nantz detailed how he will honor his forebears in football broadcasting and his late parents.

For the late CBS broadcaster Jack Whitaker, who called Super Bowl I, a baseball card with his likeness. For NFL champion and color commentator Pat Summerall, a sobriety chip.

“The last 20 years of his life, he tried to help a lot of people … and I know what (sobriety) represents to him,” Nantz said. “It was his 20-year coin I believe, and his wife Cheri gave it to me.”

This will also be the first Super Bowl that Nantz calls without either of his parents alive.

For them, he is bringing a photograph of his mother in his chest suit pocket. And for his father, who passed away from Alzheimer’s, a “Forget Me Knot” tie that he has used to raise money for research on the disease.

Of course, Nantz was also a key part of a new CBS documentary paying tribute to Brent Musberger and the original NFL Today crew. The doc airs on Super Bowl Sunday, adding another layer to Nantz’s homages this weekend.

So while you’re watching the San Francisco 49ers battle for revenge against the Kansas City Chiefs, know that the game means more to Nantz than just another opportunity to shepherd America through its biggest entertainment event.

[The Dan Patrick Show]

About Brendon Kleen

Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.