Jim Nantz has seen just about everything there is to see as a broadcaster. But on Wednesday, Nantz recalled what was likely the most bizarre moment of his broadcasting career, the infamous blackout in the middle of Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers.
Nantz and Phil Simms, who were on the call of Super Bowl XLVII, abruptly had their mics cut off before the lights throughout the majority of the stadium went out at the beginning of the third quarter. The blackout would cause a 34-minute delay in the game.
On Wednesday, Nantz was asked about that unforgettable moment during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. There, he detailed that he had to do some “quick processing” to understand what was happening, which had him thinking the worst initially.
“I gotta give it to you, brother, you come up with the best questions,” said Nantz. “Just no one like you. Obviously, I’m not ready for an answer if I want to give it much thought. But it’s this easy.
“I’m there with Phil Simms, it was like 9:38 to go in the third quarter. The Ravens had the football at roughly their own 43-yard line. There was a run up the middle and all of the sudden my monitors went black. Complete dark. And in my headset, I can’t hear myself finishing the call. I was in the middle of a call.
“So I just thought there was a power surge in the booth. But right after that of course, in a millisecond, you realize the lights are out. The whole thing is coming down. The whole broadcast is probably off the air. You had to do some quick processing about what was happening.
“I had no link to the truck. I can’t hear from the producers. I had no visual cues. We’re all in the dark. Literally and figuratively. But my cell phone was working. So I called Lance Barrow, our producer in the truck. Now this was a dumb thing to do because I’m sure he was more in the center of the storm than I was. He didn’t pick up.
“I call Melissa, my Chief of Staff for a quarter of a century. I call her cell phone and say ‘What in the world is happening right now?’ And she explained that we were knocked off the air.
“You had all kinds of really not-so-good thoughts at that point. This is 2013, you are wondering whether this is a terrorist attack. You hate to even say it, but you don’t know what it is. As you know, it took 35 minutes before everything was restored. That overshadowed really what was a compelling game right down to the wire.”
Jim Nantz shares what was going on in the booth when the light went out at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/ZRd5FbuoMD
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 15, 2025
The question was of course asked by Patrick because this year’s Super Bowl, Super Bowl LIX, will be returning to New Orleans for the first time since the game that was coined the “Blackout Bowl”.
While this kind of blackout will likely never happen again on a Super Bowl broadcast, it is perhaps a reminder to every broadcaster to be prepared for anything and everything that can happen. And that may be useful advice for Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady, who will call Super Bowl LIX on Fox.