History will be made on the broadcast side of Super Bowl LVIII when the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas. Kevin Harlan has been the play-by-play radio voice of the Super Bowl for several years on Westwood One Radio. But this year his daughter, Olivia Harlan Dekker, will also be calling the game broadcast for Sky Sports in the UK.
According to the Associated Press, it’s the first time that a father and daughter duo will work and call a Super Bowl broadcast. Harlan Dekker opened up about how much the milestone meant to her and the Harlan family.
“You think of it like the accolades of your career that will end up meaning anything, when all of this is said and done and something you’ll tell grandchildren about and that they’ll tell grandchildren about, and that’s really something to be proud of generationally,” Harlan Dekker said. “No one will care about the midseason games you work or how many seasons you even work. But everyone will remember this in our family. So it means the world to me and to make history doing it. I like to think that there’s some little girl out there that is going to catch wind of this story in some way, and just think: ‘I never thought of that.’”
The elder Harlan spoke glowingly about his daughter’s work ethic from her time in college and how she dedicated herself to learning the sports media trade.
“She would miss a lot of social events at her sorority and would be involved in covering games, but not just games, equestrian, swimming, all the events, male and female, that were going on in that campus. And she was a tireless worker and was a perfectionist. She’s always been a perfectionist.”
Kevin Harlan will be calling the Super Bowl for Westwood One alongside former Super Bowl winning quarterback Kurt Warner and Fox NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino. It’s his ninth consecutive Super Bowl announcing for Westwood One where he also serves as the outlet’s flagship voice for Monday Night Football throughout the season.
Already. Fired. Up.#SBLVIII gameday coverage begins Feb 11th at 2p ET.
Kevin Harlan, @kurt13warner and @DeanBlandino in the booth.@LauraOkmin & @golic on the sidelines.@ScottWipeOut & @devinmccourty pre/half/post
Also contributing: @RossTuckerNFL & @JasonMcCourty pic.twitter.com/gxrNLFS9wa
— Westwood One Sports (@westwood1sports) January 29, 2024
Olivia Harlan Dekker will be a reporter for the game for Sky Sports, who she has worked with throughout the season. Harlan Dekker also does work for Westwood One in addition to Bet MGM. She’s done some sideline reporting work for ESPN in the past but is currently stationed in the UK while her husband, former Wisconsin standout Sam Dekker, plays professionally in England for the London Lions of the British Basketball League.
https://twitter.com/NFLUK/status/1754595835571216822
It’s an incredible achievement for the Harlan family as they will celebrate in Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday.
