A rising star in NFL media is getting his first crack at calling a game.
CBS announced its broadcaster assignments for Week 18’s NFL slate on Monday, and three-time Pro Bowl selection Kyle Long got the nod to call Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders alongside play-by-play announcer Chris Lewis and sideline reporter Tiffany Blackmon. The assignment marks Long’s first time calling an NFL game from the booth.
Game Announcers for Week 18 of the @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/rO0aQM9bov
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) December 29, 2025
Of course, the game doesn’t have any stakes for either team (other than draft position and potentially being the final game of Pete Carroll’s coaching career), but that’s precisely the environment best suited to try out an announcer like Long.
This year, Long helped spearhead CBS’s new digital-exclusive pregame show, The NFL Today+, alongside Matt Ryan, Antonio Pierce, and host Amanda Guerra. The show serves as the spiritual successor to That Other Pregame Show, which Long contributed to as a studio analyst for several years before its cancellation this year. Long also hosts the popular Pushing the Pile podcast alongside Mike Renner and JP Acosta.
Sunday will serve as an important opportunity in Long’s broadcasting career. While movement in a network’s top booths is pretty rare, there is typically a bit more shuffling happening on the fifth, sixth, and seventh teams from year to year. CBS’s sixth broadcast team this year, for instance, was Tom McCarthy and Ross Tucker. But just a year prior, Jay Feely served as a third man on that team. The network’s seventh team isn’t even a permanent fixture, but rotated between Beth Mowins and Lewis for play-by-play, with Logan Ryan as game analyst.
Week 18, Tucker is moving up to Kevin Harlan’s booth to fill in for Trent Green, who is away attending his son’s wedding, opening up the spot for Long.
Suffice it to say, there is an opportunity. And if Long performs well this week, he could certainly get thrown into the mix a bit more next season.
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.