On Monday, CBS revealed its lineup of broadcasters for the 2023 season. Generally speaking, the line normally forms to the left, as NFL fans complain that [insert announcer] is on call for their favorite team. But that changed Monday, as Miami Dolphins fans offered a different, yet refreshing perspective when the lineup was officially released.
If you checked social media on Monday, you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody happier than Dolphins fans. No, the team didn’t agree to terms on a contract with Dalvin Cook, nor had they worked out a blockbuster trade for All-Pro guard Zack Martin. Instead, Miami fans were over the moon because they found out that Kevin Harlan, alongside Trent Green and Melanie Collins, will be on the call for the team’s Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Chargers and Week 3 against the Denver Broncos.
https://twitter.com/Honorary_Titan/status/1683535039705825284?s=20
Kevin Harlan week 1. Love it pic.twitter.com/5sPkx0snc0
— Tom Ernisse (@DolphinsTalkTom) July 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/RobSlater10/status/1683527308437536768?s=20
https://twitter.com/Heat4life01/status/1683526354698944513?s=20
https://twitter.com/Finfanpurgatory/status/1683524341781209111?s=20
The release from CBS Sports only provided the first three weeks of games, and Harlan will be the play-by-play voice for two of them. In Week 2, the Dolphins play on Sunday Night Football, which is an NBC-designated game. So, fans will have to listen to Mike Tirico on the call instead, but that seems to be a fair trade-off, especially with how beloved Harlan is in the South Beach area.
As Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald pointed out, Harlan called some of the most memorable Dolphins and Miami Heat games in the past calendar year. Harlan provided the play-by-play of the improbable last-second Derrick White Game 6 buzzer beater to force a Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. While that game doesn’t exactly resonate with Miami fans, like the Game 7 win against the Boston Celtics does, the game—and Harlan’s call—were still memorable.
Harlan was on the call for the Dolphins’ historic comeback against the Baltimore Ravens during Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season.
https://twitter.com/FinsPhanatics/status/1681629062673088512?s=20
And now Harlan will travel to different parts of the country to be on the call for two Dolphins games, including the team’s season opener in Los Angeles and their home opener against the Broncos in Week 3. These are only the NFL on CBS announcer assignments from Weeks 1-3, so it’s certainly possible that Harlan will be on other Dolphins games as the season moves forth.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.