Chris “Boomer” Berman is closing in on 50 years at ESPN. Earlier this year, he told Alex Sherman of CNBC that he intends to retire when his current contract, which extends through the 2029 NFL season, expires. After that, Berman, 71, may have a future in calling plays in the NFL.
Wait, what?
On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs humiliated the Denver Broncos, 31-10, at Arrowhead Stadium in the first Monday Night Football matchup of the 2026 NFL season. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes returned from a torn ACL and LCL exactly nine months after suffering the injury, and running back Kenneth Walker III ran wild on the Broncos in his Chiefs debut.
After an uncharacteristic 6-11 season last year, Mahomes & Co. looked more like the dynastic Chiefs that won three out of five Super Bowls. It was a statement win, and Chiefs’ statement wins usually involve clever plays designed by head coach Andy Reid.
So when Mahomes and backup quarterback Justin Fields appeared in a 3-point stance pre-snap before Mahomes flicked the ball to Walker, who galavanted into the end zone untouched, it was easy to assume Reid was up to his old trickery.
The Chiefs had Justin Fields lined up next to Mahomes on the TD 👀
DENvsKC on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/iE3BxyCeIf— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2026
Reid previously pulled a play from the 1948 Rose Bowl for Super Bowl LIV and literally had the Chiefs playing ring-around-the-rosie against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023. This time, however, the Chiefs’ innovation stemmed from Berman.
“Chris Berman sent me that play,” Reid said of Walker’s fourth-quarter touchdown after Monday’s game. “So, that’s a 1936er right there. It was a great play. They executed it well. […] We did it in training camp. We’ve run it before, just not that smooth.”
Mahomes and Walker were also asked about the play during their postgame press conferences.
“You should have seen the tape on it,” Mahomes quipped with a giggle. “It was called ‘Heisman.’ I can’t remember who exactly ran it because it was in black and white. And it was very scratchy when we were watching it. But it was a play that Coach [Andy] Heck brought to us, and I’m sure Coach Reid had his imprint as well. We designed it, and I just knew it was gonna score. Hopefully, that can set some stuff up. […] Hopefully, that’s just the first iteration of it.”
“The film we watched was probably from 1900,” Walker said. “It was hard to see, but we worked it. We worked it over and over in practice. We felt like that was gonna work, and it did.”
As a footnote, Berman helping the Chiefs actually says a lot about his character, considering he’s a die-hard, lifelong Buffalo Bills fan. The Mahomes-era Chiefs are the Bills’ kryptonite, eliminating Buffalo in the playoffs four times since 2020. Buffalo will host the Chiefs on Thanksgiving. Berman may regret sending Reid the “Heisman” play if Kansas City runs some iteration of it successfully against his beloved Bills.
About Megan Armstrong
Since first getting published as a student by the Kansas City Star in 2013, Megan Armstrong has gone wherever curiosity and stories have taken her, specializing in sports, media, music, and culture coverage. She also has an extensive background in interviewing and profiling public figures. Her work has appeared in Billboard, Boardroom, Bleacher Report, Esquire, GQ, GRAMMY.com, NYLON, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, UPROXX, and elsewhere.