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 23rd season as the lead producer. He has more than 40 years of experience covering the league and has produced seven Super Bowls. Throughout the 2024 NFL season, he is providing an inside look as FOX's new No. 1 NFL team, including NFL legend Tom Brady, makes its journey toward Super Bowl LIX. Read more behind-the-scenes stories from Richie Zyontz here.
It was W.C. Fields who famously said: "I once spent a year in Philadelphia. I think it was on a Sunday."
Despite the renowned Fields having been dead for 80 years, his line certainly resonated with me on Super Bowl Sunday as the clock couldn't tick fast enough toward the 5:40 p.m. CT kickoff time between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles at the Superdome in New Orleans.
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In fact, the whole week seemed to play out in slow motion despite a whirlwind of activity every day. The enormity of a Super Bowl can mess with your brain — especially if you've been through it before. Tom Brady said during the broadcast, he slept like a baby in the locker room before his first one. And why not? He was just a kid and didn't know what he didn't know.
But later on, knowing the stakes, he never had a good night's sleep for the next nine.
Well, I've been to 14 of these babies, and losing sleep comes quite easily. One strategy to combat nerves is to block out everything not in your lane.
The size and scope of this massive event first hits you upon entering the city-sized television compound brilliantly set up by our operations department.
For a regular season game, we have a handful of trucks and dozens of crew members we've worked with for many years. This week in the "Big Easy," by comparison, it was like walking through a busy airport not knowing a soul. Which is fine by me. I'm not much for conversation.
Sixteen trucks, 20,000 feet of office space and hundreds of people, all with specific jobs, spanning every department of FOX Sports.
A veritable army!
And we know thanks to Napoleon Bonaparte, who never made it to a French Open or a Super Bowl, but said "an army marches on its stomach." So to feed that army on game day, FOX ordered up 3,000 Po' Boy sandwiches, among other things, to help keep the troops in fighting shape.
Tom Brady and the FOX crew dine while in New Orleans.
One interesting TV compound moment came during an exhausting Friday, when all the pregame hoopla is rehearsed and staged. During a lull in the action, we were visited by a White House advance team to discuss President Trump's presence at the game on Sunday. The meeting centered around the camera angles and lighting of his seat location. The intention was to get a flattering visual of the president standing at attention during the national anthem. His young team was pleasant and highly efficient. And the four-second shot of him saluting during the anthem went off without a hitch.
Now on to the actual football game.
With the loosening of the "Brady Rules" by the commissioner, Tom was allowed to attend meetings but not practices in the lead-in to the big game. So on Wednesday, we were treated to a very cool 30 minutes of Brady conversing with Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Much like Brady, Mahomes is a perfectly normal person, despite the rarefied air he breathes. No posturing or pretensions, just steely eyed drive and fierce competitiveness.
It was a GOAT with near GOAT experience.
Brady has walked in his shoes, knowing the joy of Super Bowl victories, and the dread of Super Bowl defeats. As he said at times during the broadcast, the losses stay with you forever, and unfortunately for Mahomes, this past one will likely be difficult to get past.
"It hurts. It's gonna hurt for a while," Mahomes told reporters after the 40-22 loss. "But how can you respond from it? How can you get better? How can you not just be satisfied with getting here? That starts with me."
My favorite moment during the two days we met with the teams involved the Eagles' celebrated yet curmudgeonly defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
A Philadelphia native and football lifer, Fangio carries himself with the world-weariness of the guy changing your oil at Jiffy Lube. That in itself makes him quite lovable. Despite a storied 40-year career, Fangio had never been part of a Super Bowl winning team. Our meeting was highlighted by him revealing to us that he got the sense "a lot of people around the league were rooting for him." The words came out shyly without an ounce of bravado, and I found myself rooting for him, too.
The FOX crew takes a break from their busy schedule for a photo in the lead-in to Super Bowl LIX.
So much has been discussed about Brady's rookie season as a broadcaster. The guy gets sliced and diced like a salami. That comes with fortune, fame, and a famous name. But he is 100 percent committed to becoming a great broadcaster. He is by no means a finished product, yet somehow was expected to be one from Day 1. The improvement he showed throughout the season was palpable, ending with a very strong effort Sunday night.
Sometimes a bad game can be a blessing for announcers. It gives them a little freedom to tell stories and show some personality. For Brady, it allowed him to lean into his 10 Super Bowl appearances with anecdotes and some humor. And who better to wax poetic on winning and losing on that stage better than him?
"We lost to the Giants in 2007. That was 17 years ago," Brady said on the broadcast. "We were on the precipice of history. We faced a team that played their hearts out and beat us. And I still haven't lived it down because you care so deeply. And I know this Chiefs team does as well"
Powerful stuff indeed.
And finally, while one GOAT finished his rookie season, another GOAT completed his last. This one works behind the scenes without fuss or fanfare. He has patrolled the sidelines at NFL games for nearly 40 years, a 30-pound camera strapped to his shoulder. Through his lens have come lasting images from over 25 Super Bowls that will last forever.
He embodies our industry better than anyone. Humble to a fault, loved by all, committed to his job and his teammates.
His name is Don Cornelli and Sunday night was his farewell performance. The crew honored him on Thursday at the large camera meeting run by our director Rich Russo. There were kind words and many tears. I've known Don for 37 years Salt of the Earth. He will be sorely missed.
So the season is now in the books. It's been a long and winding road with a crew that is second to none. So much hard work from so many people who take deep pride in what they do.
It all makes for one very grateful producer.
A look inside the control room during Super Bowl LIX.
Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and is in his 23rd season as lead producer. He boasts more than 40 years of experience covering the NFL.
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