There will be four nationally-televised Saturday games on NFL Network in December, and the network’s now announced its broadcast crews for those games (doubleheaders on both Saturday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 22).
Here’s more from their release:
NFL Network has set its broadcast teams for the four NFL Network Special matchups in Week 15 and 16 of this season.
Curt Menefee, Nate Burleson and Steve Mariucci, along with Melissa Stark on the sidelines, will broadcast two games on NFL Network, beginning with the Week 15 matchup between the Houston Texans and New York Jets on Saturday, December 15. In Week 16, Menefee, Burleson, Mariucci and Stark will broadcast the Washington Redskins-Tennessee Titans game on Saturday, December 22. Kickoff for both games is at 4:30 PM ET.
Mike Tirico and Kurt Warner, along with Peter Schrager on the sidelines, will broadcast the Cleveland Browns-Denver Broncos Week 15 game on Saturday, December 15 and the Baltimore Ravens-Los Angeles Chargers Week 16 game on Saturday, December 22. Kickoff for both games is at 8:20 PM ET.
Menefee may most be known for his role as host of Fox NFL Sunday (a role he’s held since 2006), but he has a significant play-by-play background too. He called NFL games on Fox in the late 90s and early 2000s, called preseason games for the Jaguars from 2005-07, and has been calling Seahawks’ preseason games for the last several years.
Meanwhile, Burleson and Mariucci are newer to the booth, but both have significant studio experience, Burleson from Good Morning Football, other NFL Network appearances and CBS’ The NFL Today and Mariucci from a decade-plus of NFL Network work at this point. And Tirico and Warner both have plenty of game-calling experience. So this should hopefully all run pretty smoothly.
At least some of these games could wind up being interesting; both Houston and Washington are currently leading their divisions, and the Chargers are in playoff position as well. We’ll see how the standings look by Week 15, but there might be some significance to these matchups.
