Behind the scenes with the FOX NFL crew: How Tom Brady, the staff, tells tales with graphics

By Richie Zyontz
FOX NFL Lead Producer

Editor’s Note: Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and is in his twenty third season as a lead producer. He has greater than 40 years of championship expertise and has produced seven Super Bowls. Throughout the 2024 NFL season, he’ll present an inside look as FOX’s new No. 1 NFL staff, together with NFL legend Tom Brady, makes its journey to Super Bowl LIX. Read extra behind-the-scenes tales from Richie Zyontz right here.

My first boss in sports activities tv as soon as described a soccer broadcast as having three most important parts.

He cited the announcers’ feedback as the primary class: portray an image with phrases. Then got here the reside broadcasts and replays: portray an image with photographs.

It was the third part that caught me abruptly: portray an image and telling a narrative with phrases and numbers pasted onto the display screen.

(Related: More from Tom Brady | More from Richie Zyontz)

It was the world of graphics and, for greater than 40 years, it was the place to begin of the careers of many profitable producers, administrators and executives.

Once upon a time the graphics of a soccer match consisted of little or no. Down and yardage, participant names connected to rudimentary statistics and the rating solely when it goes on commercials. By at present’s requirements, it was virtually criminally uninformative.

So when CBS Sports started a program in 1981 to replace the graphics of all its occasions, I used to be lucky to be among the many first group employed.

Although I’m undecided why. A love and a moderately deep information of sport, maybe. But being a safety guard on the CBS headquarters often called Blackrock hardly certified me for this new journey.

The first graphics truck I labored at had 4 folks. There was the TV contributor (me) in command of the editorial, the technician who operated the graphics machine, a statistician and an individual with headphones who obtained scores from different video games. A small, cozy group huddled in a rental trailer with three or 4 screens to work with. And possibly a donut or two.

Now the graphics unit has a dozen folks, dozens of screens and takes up a whole truck.

A TV graphics truck as of late is a a lot busier place than it was. (Photo courtesy of Richie Zyontz)

Needless to say, the third key part of a sports activities broadcast described to me method again in 1981 grew by leaps and bounds, altering perpetually when FOX entered the community image in 1994.

FOX wished its graphics to be industry-leading, with an emphasis on creating a novel visible distinction from what we present on display screen. The most enduring and vital of those improvements was the Fox Box, which retains the rating always up to date and from which many different statistics are activated. At the time derided by different networks, it has now been copied by everybody, 30 years later.

FOX IS AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF GRAPHICS AND TOM BRADY IS TOTAL

The explosion of graphics in your display screen coincides with the explosion of data now obtainable to us. Research as soon as consisted of in-depth evaluation of the staff’s press releases. Not anymore.

Every week we’ve got half a dozen sources of data at our fingertips. Tom Brady participates in weekly telephone calls with Next Generation NFL Stats and Pro Football Focus, two distinctive sources of refined information.

In our first offseason assembly with Brady, he did not appear significantly concerned with making statistics a significant a part of his broadcasting repertoire. Now every part has modified. He is clearly enthusiastic in regards to the data obtainable to him and enthusiastically discusses and analyzes this analytical information each week.

Now, some statistics haven’t been variety to our crew. Of the video games we talked about, the guests received 7 of 8, outscoring the house staff by a cumulative rating of 251-154. Over the course of 8 weeks of the NFL season, 67 video games had been determined by 7 factors or fewer. Our crew solely noticed two.

But there’s a silver lining, particularly for a brand new broadcaster simply studying the ropes.

BRADY KEEPS HIS ENERGY IN AN EXPLOSION, WHILE THE SEAHAWKS FIGHT THEMSELVES

Maintaining power is essential for anybody sporting a headset. It’s simpler stated than achieved when the sport seems to be something however aggressive. There are Hall of Fame broadcasters who sound bored once they name dangerous video games. As a viewer, it’s toxic.

Considering how our first eight video games have performed out, I wager Brady avoids these dangerous habits.

On a typical wet day in Seattle final Sunday, we had been handled to a different one-sided sport, because the Buffalo Bills and their electrical quarterback Josh Allen dismantled the Seahawks, 31-10. Rain and wind performed an necessary position within the story and performed an enormous position in Tom’s dangerous climate gaming expertise.

Rain and wind (and hair in his eyes) could not decelerate Josh Allen towards the Seahawks. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

When the sport acquired out of hand, Kevin Burkhardt and Tom had the chance to have some nice anecdotal conversations.

For instance, Brady took time to reward the Bills Mafia whereas telling a narrative about how that very same fan base would grasp him in effigy when he was with the Patriots. It was a enjoyable story that maybe would not have been informed throughout an in depth and thrilling competitors.

Not for a second did anybody’s power waver. Not in our sales space and never within the area, the place our soaked cameramen discovered some unimaginable photographs.

They captured Seattle teammates combating on the sphere after which on the bench from a number of angles.

Our cameras caught the Seahawks arguing with one another in the course of the sport.

There had been additionally tight under-helmet photographs, which have lengthy been the signature of our fabulous digital camera crew.

With the fixed rain, these photographs had been much more dramatic.

My favourite photograph, courtesy of our downstate cameraman Andy Mitchell, was an excessive close-up of a soccer ball simply earlier than the shot, moist on one facet, dry on the opposite. Beautiful!

IN LAMBEAU, THE BEST MATCH DAY ENVIRONMENT IN THE NFL

So now we transfer to Green Bay for an NFC battle between the Packers and Detroit Lions. Lambeau Field is the premier sport day surroundings within the NFL.

As common, our graphics staff will probably be loaded with attention-grabbing numbers. Hopefully we are able to cowl an in depth sport, but when not, there’s all the time a silver lining.

Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and is in his twenty third season as a lead producer. He has greater than 40 years of NFL expertise.

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