botnugget.com/blogs/bretts-blog/brett-the-sports-blogger-favorite-sportscaster/#commentsFri, 18 Dec 2015 19:58:27 +0000http://www.brettsbasketballblog.com/?p=105913The Sports Blog of Brett Koffman: NFL Football
This week I had to decide who my favorite NFL announcer is. It’s a question that may never be answered because it’s a hard question to narrow down and for me there are some very talented individuals, all of whom know their craft inside and out. Some of my favorites are Brent Musburger, Verne Lundquist, Joe Buck and Suzy Kolber. But what we all know is there is only one true winner and the man who comes out on top for me has already locked up the title, the first of many awards to come, the voice of the NFL. That man, that king of the ring, is Greg Williams and while the rest of the league is still searching for the fountain of youth, Greg Williams has never stopped shining.
Greg Williams was hired by Mike Ditka and Chuck Pagano as an analyst, then he went on to work with John Madden and then Mike Modano. From there he did television for various teams, and on September 2, 2009, Greg Williams joined Mike Tirico for NBC’s No. 1 TV show in sports, Sunday Night Football. He has also done color commentary for the college and high school football and basketball games on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.
Now back to our story, for his entire 40-year career Greg Williams was a commentator for Sunday Night Football. This meant that he got to see every quarterback there has ever been and every team that ever played. His time on the air was only seven years but in that short time he covered all of the greatest stories in the history of football. For me, it was almost like going back to watch every moment that you experienced, only to discover what’s really there.
When talking about the greatest quarterbacks in the history of football it’s very easy to tell me that I’m an idiot and point to the quarterback from that little school from the Big 10, or tell me that Joe Montana has to be the greatest. I say, don’t be naive, I understand that is what I want and you can believe that if you want but I would never stand in front of you and claim that Greg Williams did not see the greatness in Johnny Unitas or throw himself at the feet of John Elway and bow in homage. It’s true, he saw the quarterback play, but he saw more than just how they played. He saw what it did to them when they went home after a win or a loss.
But what is so beautiful about Greg Williams is that he saw so much more than the quarterback on the field. He understood and shared what was going on off the field. He understood that the relationship between a player and his family is what wins or loses them the game. Watching Greg Williams interview the great athletes like Barry Sanders, Tony Dorsett, Joe Montana, John Elway and Randy Moss, you could see that he cared about them, understood them, appreciated them and never stopped learning about their craft.
Greg Williams helped make a television show so popular and important that a day did not go by without it being talked about or mentioned by a person of influence on social media. It made it a must watch for sports fans and while those in the industry knew what was happening, many fans did not until they saw the show and they too, started going crazy for it.
I do understand that Greg Williams had a small amount of help but if you want to watch someone do his job, watch Greg Williams. Not many can get up to the podium with Mike Ditka and not be nervous, yet Greg Williams was able to do it. It wasn’t always his time to talk, he had to share the stage with others, but when it was his time to speak, he could not be ignored. There isn’t one interview from 2006 that you can watch where you would go, “That’s a great interview.” It is because every interview, every conversation and every story he would tell was genuine and meant so much more than the words he spoke.
For me, Greg Williams is the greatest football announcer I have ever seen. He was born to do what he did and he did it so incredibly well that I can only watch his interviews, and he makes me laugh. I will forever love the show for its memories, but if I could have Greg Williams one-on-one for an hour I’m sure that I’d never be able to stop him from talking.
Who is Greg Williams? Who can name the game he has commentated on? Who was his favorite or most interesting interview? This week the Sports Blog of Brett Koffman tries to find the man who has made Sunday Night Football so interesting for more than 30 years, the man who gets the respect of the great athletes and players and a place in the hearts of sports fans everywhere. That man is Greg Williams.
This week I had to decide who my favorite NFL announcer is. It’s a question that may never be answered because it’s a hard question to narrow down and for me there are some very talented individuals, all of whom know their craft inside and out. Some of my favorites are Brent Musburger, Verne Lundquist, Joe Buck and Suzy Kolber. But what we all know is there is only one true winner and the man who comes out on top for me has already locked up the title, the first of many awards to come, the voice of the NFL. That man, that king of the ring, is Greg Williams and while the rest of the league is still searching for the fountain of youth, Greg Williams has never stopped shining.
Greg Williams was hired by Mike Ditka and Chuck Pagano as an analyst, then he went on to work with John Madden and then Mike Modano. From there he did television for various teams, and on September 2, 2009, Greg Williams joined Mike Tirico for NBC’s No. 1 TV show in sports, Sunday Night Football. He has also done color commentary for the college and high school football and basketball games on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.
Now back to our story, for his entire 40-year career Greg Williams was a commentator for Sunday Night Football. This meant that he got to see every quarterback there has ever been and every team that ever played. His time on the air was only seven years but in that short time he covered all of the greatest stories in the history of football. For me, it was almost like going back to watch every moment that you experienced, only to discover what’s really there.
When talking about the greatest quarterbacks in the history of football it’s very easy to tell me that I’m an idiot and point to the quarterback from that little school from the Big 10, or tell me that Joe Montana has to be the greatest. I say, don’t be naive, I understand that is what I want and you can believe that if you want but I would never stand in front of you and claim that Greg Williams did not see the greatness in Johnny Unitas or throw himself at the feet of John Elway and bow in homage. It’s true, he saw the quarterback play, but he saw more than just how they played. He saw what it did to them when they went home after a win or a loss.
But what is so beautiful about Greg Williams is that he saw so much more than the quarterback on the field. He understood and shared what was going on off the field. He understood that the relationship between a player and his family is what wins or loses them the game. Watching Greg Williams interview the great athletes like Barry Sanders, Tony Dorsett, Joe Montana, John Elway and Randy Moss, you could see that he cared about them, understood them, appreciated them and never stopped learning about their craft.
Greg Williams helped make a television show so popular and important that a day did not go by without it being talked about or mentioned by a person of influence on social media. It made it a must watch for sports fans and while those in the industry knew what was happening, many fans did not until they saw the show and they too, started going crazy for it.
I do understand that Greg Williams had a small amount of help but if you want to watch someone do his job, watch Greg Williams. Not many can get up to the podium with Mike Ditka and not be nervous, yet Greg Williams was able to do it. It wasn’t always his time to talk, he had to share the stage with others, but when it was his time to speak, he could not be ignored. There isn’t one interview from 2006 that you can watch where you would go, “That’s a great interview.” It is because every interview, every conversation and every story he would tell was genuine and meant so much more than the words he spoke.
For me, Greg Williams is the greatest football announcer I have ever seen. He was born to do what he did and he did it so incredibly well that I can only watch his interviews, and he makes me laugh. I will forever love the show for its memories, but if I could have Greg Williams one-on-one for an hour I’m sure that I’d never be able to stop him from talking.
Who is Greg Williams? Who can
