Scott Hanson and Andrew Siciliano go way back.
No strangers to one another, the two are best known for leading rival versions of the NFL RedZone phenomenon. Hanson still hosts the NFL Network’s version, while Siciliano got bumped off DirecTV’s RedZone channel after the Sunday Ticket-YouTube move. He was later out at NFL Network and is now the radio voice of the Cleveland Browns.
During his appearance on the Awful Announcing Podcast, Siciliano talked with host Brandon Contes about co-hosting NBC’s popular Gold Zone coverage for the 2024 Paris Olympics alongside Hanson—a rare opportunity to see two broadcasters whose careers have run parallel for over a decade share the screen.
“It was interesting; we did different shifts. I did the afternoon, and he came in after that,” Siciliano explained. “…Long story short, Scott and I did a meeting together in the morning. Not just two of us, but the afternoon production crew, we all got together. But because both of us had to work with that crew, we were both in the meetings. We did the meeting together in the morning, went our separate ways, and we’d have the hand-off on-air every day in the afternoon.
“So, yeah, we had plenty of time together. We stayed in the same hotel, shared a couple of meals. It was good to re-connect, absolutely. And Jac Collinsowrth, Matt Iseman, both also awesome, did a great job with their shift in the morning. They kind of did it like a fun morning show; they cracked me up, honestly, every day. But the four of us would get together, like I said, same hotel, get meals together. It was a really, really fun experience.”
Earlier this year, Siciliano told Dan Le Batard that, despite his appreciation for Hanson’s talents, he’s never actually tuned in to watch his competitor call the infamous NFL “witching hour.”
In the same interview, Siciliano also acknowledged the fans who hyped up his on-air pass-off to Hanson during this year’s first edition of the Gold Zone. NBC has featured the Olympic whiparound since 2012, and Siciliano has been involved since 2014. He compared it to Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home and the other recent multiverse comic book movies featuring multiple versions of the same character.
“Scott and I worked together for 13, 14 years on NFL Network but we never did the same show together … this was the first time I think we were actually on the same set at the same time,” Siciliano said. “I know Sports Twitter lost their mind; it was like the RedZone multiverse.”
The Olympics reunion of Hanson and Siciliano was like the dream crossover NFL fans never knew they needed. For years, they brought their unique takes to RedZone, so seeing them work side-by-side was like a perfect nod to their intertwined histories.
It certainly sounds like something NBC should look to do again in 2028.
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About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.