National Football League

Behind the Scenes with FOX's NFL crew: When the best-laid plans go awry

Updated Jan. 30, 2023 6:48 p.m. ET

By Richie Zyontz
FOX NFL Lead Producer

Editor's Note: Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and the lead producer for the last 20 seasons. He has more than 40 years of experience covering the league and has produced six Super Bowls. Throughout the 2022 NFL season, he will provide an inside look as FOX's new No. 1 NFL team makes its journey toward Super Bowl LVII.

At a mid-October FOX NFL crew dinner, we went around the table soliciting opinions on potential participants in the NFC Championship game, still months down the road. Between forkfuls of pasta and meatballs, the 15-person vote was near unanimous. Our collective choice were the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles. Perhaps it was wishful thinking.

The Eagles were then undefeated and the 49ers had just acquired dynamic running back Christian McCaffrey. The prospect of a late-January collision was a delicious thought. And yesterday, the long-awaited showdown took place in the alleged City of Brotherly Love.

But a funny thing happened on the way to what we hoped would be an instant classic. The game had some classic qualities, but for all the wrong reasons.

Craziness ensued in many forms almost from the outset.

We saw game-altering injuries, a broken sideline chain, an instant replay snafu, claims that a punted ball hit an overhead camera wire, a benches-clearing brawl and enough penalty flags to last a lifetime. I'm exhausted just writing about it. But Sunday, I had to produce, and it was quite the challenge.

To challenge or not to challenge?

The instant replay system places a TV broadcast smack in the middle of the process. Our video determines whether a coach should contest certain calls on the field. Time is of the essence — once the ball is snapped for the next play it's too late.

"They deserve a trip to the Super Bowl"

Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen talk about the Eagles' convincing win over the Niners in the NFC Championship.

We were faced with a tricky situation early in the game.

Philadelphia receiver Devonta Smith seemingly made a spectacular diving catch down the far sideline. Field-level cameraman Don Cornelli was positioned perfectly (as always) to provide a wonderful picture. Our thoughts in the truck immediately turned to whether Smith was in bounds and whether he held on to the ball.

So with time for only one replay as Philadelphia was rushing to the line of scrimmage, we showed the view from Don's camera, which seemed to indicate a completed catch. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan couldn't challenge the play based on that angle. The Eagles then snapped the ball quickly, shutting down the possibility of a review.

During the next commercial break, we discovered an angle from reverse angle cameraman Keith DeSantis (another brilliant operator who captured the classic shot of the Giants' David Tyree's catch in Super Bowl XLII). This one conclusively showed the ball wasn't caught — it hit the ground. As my grandmother would have said, "oy vey."

Needless to say, I'm kicking myself today. That's what producers do. We strive for perfection and are constantly disappointed. Considering the rush, as well as what our eyes initially saw, I'm not sure we could have shown the proper replay in time. But that was just the beginning of an odd day.

Cinderella or pumpkin?

San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy was the Cinderella of the playoffs coming into the championship game.

After injuries to the 49ers' top two QBs during the season, Purdy took over and helped steer his team to seven straight wins. What a storyline, as this freshly scrubbed kid took the field against a ferocious Philly crowd and defense. And then he got hurt! And then his backup got hurt! And then an injured Purdy had to return despite the fact he couldn't throw the ball.

Needless to say, the broadcast was prepared with a plethora of graphics and pretaped stories on Purdy’s meteoric rise. Whoops.

But his injury and the consequent saga did keep reporter Erin Andrews busy on the San Francisco sideline. And she was excellent, monitoring Purdy's every movement and facial expression.

Sideline reporters do much more than appear sparingly on your TV screens. They constantly feed information to the truck which translates into pictures.

While getting actual injury information from the teams can be challenging, it's the pictures that become even more valuable. And valuable is the perfect adjective for Erin on Sunday in Philly!

Drop the gloves

One other moment of craziness worth mentioning: a bench-clearing brawl.

Quite appropriately, it happened in Philadelphia — home of the Broad Street Bullies, the nickname for the Flyers hockey team that terrorized the NHL back in the 1970s.

This time, however, violence came from the visitors. This was near the end of a long, frustrating game for San Francisco when future Hall of Famer Trent Williams body-slammed an Eagles player like he was a rag doll.

Tempers flare!

A fight broke out, resulting in two ejections, near the end of the Niners-Eagles clash.

Williams was easy to like during our meeting during the week, describing his preparation and excitement about the upcoming game. But he lost it, and both benches emptied to join the fray.

For us in the truck, it meant keeping the cameras wide on the field to capture the surreal scene of players pouring on the field. The tendency is to tighten in, showing just the main combatants. But that takes away from the full perspective of the event.

My favorite image was that of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, his work done for the day, warmup jacket on, quietly watching from afar as the mad scene unfolded.

What's next? A trip to Arizona, where I will have the good fortune of producing my seventh Super Bowl. There are storylines galore. Chiefs coach Andy Reid facing the team he once led for 14 years. The brothers Kelce; Jason of Philadelphia and Travis of Kansas City on opposing sidelines. Will two weeks be enough for Patrick Mahomes to heal from a sprained ankle? And does it even matter?

We just hope for a great game — and maybe a little less craziness.

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