Tag: Kenny Albert

Super Bowl 44 champ back on the call for the Saints in Week 15

Jonathan Vilma, Kenny Albert, and Megan Olivi will cover their third Saints game of the 2024 season this week against the Washington Commanders:

The announcers list for the Week 15 slate of NFL games has been put together, per 506 Sports. This week, the New Orleans Saints will have some familiar faces on the call, as they get Jonathan Vilma, Kenny Albert, and Megan Olivi for the broadcast once again this season. This will be their third time calling a Saints game this year, as they also called the early-season  matchup with the Atlanta Falcons, and more recently the game against the Los Angeles Rams.

In recent months, this crew has been generally favorable in the eyes of NFL fans and is generally one of the positive FOX crews as well. Many have been very up and down with their opinions of Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt through most of the season, though the Greg Olsen and Joe Davis crew also generally does a very good job as well.

Vilma, a Saints fan-favorite and Super Bowl XLIV champion, has always had strong breakdowns of plays, including pre-snap motion and play calls after the fact, which always gives some valuable insight into the minds of coaches and players alike. Many former players do well in broadcasting, but Vilma goes above and beyond, much like Olsen does in his broadcasts as well.

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A Super Bowl XLIV champ is on the call for Saints vs. Rams

The announcers for Week 13 have been revealed. Super Bowl 44 champ Jonathan Vilma is calling the Saints vs. Rams matchup on FOX:

The announcers for the New Orleans Saints matchup with the Los Angeles Rams this Sunday have been revealed, according to Yahoo Sports who announced the full list for all games.

FOX will have Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, and Megan Olivi on the call for this matchup. Albert is in a family of many broadcasters, including his father Marv Albert (NBA), and his uncles Al Albert and Steve Albert. Kenny Albert handles events from all four of the primary United States Sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL).

Jonathan Vilma is well known by Saints fans, as he was part of the Super Bowl XLIV team, and was a five-year Saints linebacker from 2008 to 2013. He has called quite a few Saints games in recent years, including this year with their early season game with the Atlanta Falcons.

Megan Olivi has primarily a background in MMA, as a news and events reporter and host of UFC Ultimate Insider, a sports broadcast shown on Fox Sports 1. In recent years she has been on a few different NFL crews, including with Aqib Talib, Gus Johnson, Brandon Gaudin, and others.

The Saints and Rams will kickoff at 3:05 p.m. CT/4:05 p.m. ET from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

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Announcers for Eagles-Browns matchup on Fox revealed

Jonathan Vilma & Kenny Albert to announce Eagles vs. Browns in Week 6

The Eagles are back from their bye and have started preparation for an intriguing Week 6 game against the Cleveland Browns.

It’s not the game of the week, but it still has a solid announcing team for the early game on Fox.  The game will be featured on Fox’s early afternoon lineup and features the team of Kenny Albert on play-by-play, Jonathan Vilma (analyst), and Megan Olivi (sideline) from Lincoln Financial Field at 1:00 PM EST on Sunday.

Cleveland is 1-4 and will enter the game with one of the league’s most inept and inefficient offensive units. The Browns offense has yet to score over 20 points in a game this season. Only the Dolphins and Patriots have scored fewer points per game than the Browns entering Week 6.

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Announcers in Week 16 for Vikings vs. Lions revealed

The announcers have been revealed for Vikings vs. Lions have been revealed

The Minnesota Vikings are set to take on the Detroit Lions in their winter whiteout game in week 16. The game will air on Fox at 12 p.m. CST and will be seen across most of the nation.

The announcers have been revealed through 506 Sports and they will be Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma. These two also called the week eight game against the Green Bay Packers.

Vikings fans are not the biggest fans of Vilma. He was on the New Orleans Saints during the Bountygate scandal and was a pivotal figure during that 2009 season.

Albert has been calling games for Fox for the better part of the last 30 seasons and has called multiple Vikings vs. Lions games over the years.

Commanders announce new preseason TV broadcasting trio

Two former players and a popular local broadcaster will call Washington’s preseason games in 2023.

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The Washington Commanders announced not only the pending sale of the team but a new broadcast team for the Commanders’ preseason games in 2023.

The new team will consist of Chick Hernandez, Brian Mitchell and Logan Paulsen. Hernandez will carry the play-by-play announcer duties with Mitchell and Paulsen providing analysis.

Hernandez has done play-by-play in the past during the preseason. He was once teamed with Joe Theismann as the analyst and former Washington running back Clinton Portis was on the sidelines.

No doubt, many Commanders fans will be glad to have Hernandez back in the fold. He is a local native; he is a diehard, and he exhibits passion and pleasure regarding the team. Perhaps most importantly, he has demonstrated his enthusiasm for the team for decades.

“I know Chick will be good at this and he and Brian Mitchell have a really good rapport, having worked together for years. Brian is now available with the NBCSW deal going away. Logan will be basically a second analyst from the sideline vs. just a reporter. He’s just too smart,” Julie Donaldson, Commanders senior vice president of media and content, told Commanders Wire.

It is my hope that both Paulsen and Mitchell will be able to continue to be objective and possess the freedom to not only praise the team when it is due but also offer honest criticism when it is also due. Both are no doubt, quite capable.

Most recently, the preseason broadcasts for the Commanders games were the 2022 trio of Kenny Albert (play-by-play), Rick “Doc” Walker (color commentator) and Paulsen (sideline reporter).

FOX announces broadcast crew for Week 18 Vikings vs Bears

The longtime play by play broadcaster will be calling another Vikings game on Sunday

The Minnesota Vikings have faced the Chicago Bears in the final week of the regular season three times in the last four seasons, and they’ll add to that total this weekend as they travel to Soldier Field. It was announced on Tuesday that Fox will have the broadcast crew of Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, and Shannon Spake call Sunday’s matchup. This crew also called the Vikings and Detroit Lions in Week 14 where the Vikings lost 34–23.

The Vikings are still potentially playing for the number two seed in Sunday’s game versus the Bears, so this game definitely holds value. In the end, a loss wouldn’t matter that much, as the Vikings are set to host a playoff game regardless of the outcome. The hope for the Vikings is that they can come out healthy and focused on whoever their opponent is in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.

NFL broadcast maps: Week 11 Saints-Rams game limited to home markets

TV coverage of the Week 11 Saints-Rams game will be limited to home markets, but Jonathan Vilma will be on the call for FOX Sports:

Let’s start with the good news. Week 11’s game between the 3-7 New Orleans Saints and 3-6 Los Angeles Rams will be broadcast on FOX with Saints legend Jonathan Vilma on the call, joined in the booth by Kenny Albert with Shannon Spake reporting from the sidelines. That’s a well-liked crew who should offer some valuable insight to the game.

But not many fans will get the opportunity to tune in. TV coverage for Week 11’s early-afternoon slate at FOX is reflected in this map from 506sports.com, with the regions shaded green receiving the Saints-Rams kickoff. That game will be limited to local markets around New Orleans and Los Angeles, with the vacancies around the nation filled instead by matchups featuring the 3-6 Detroit Lions, 7-2 New York Giants, 3-7 Chicago Bears, and 4-6 Atlanta Falcons.

Yuck. See if you’ll be getting the Saints game on Sunday, or if you’ll have to turn to streaming options instead:

Former Saints LB Jonathan Vilma to call Sunday’s Vikings game

Vikings fans are not too thrilled with this broadcast crew

The Minnesota Vikings sit at 4-1 on the season and head down to Miami to face the 3-2 Dolphins. The game kicks off on Fox at noon at Hard Rock Stadium.

Fox announced the broadcast crew for Sunday’s week six clash and the Vikings draw a crew that isn’t well-liked by the fanbase. Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma and Shannon Spake will be on the call.

Albert, son of legendary broadcaster Marv Albert, has been calling games for Fox for the better part of three decades. He is one of the better announcers in football. Spake is also a really good sideline reporter.

Some fans have expressed some annoyance that Vilma will be calling the game on Sunday considering that he was the main catalyst on the player side of Bounty Gate. He was suspended for the 2012 season for his actions.

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NFL Week 10 announcers’ schedule

The assignments are out for Week 10 of the NFL season

Some nice matchups on the schedule in Week 10 as the Seattle Seahawks face the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs meet the Las Vegas Raiders, and Tennessee Titans welcome the New Orleans Saints.

What broadcast teams have been assigned to NFL games this week?

Thursday Night Football (8:20 p.m. kickoff)

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins (FOX, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Kristina Pink

1 p.m. ET Kickoff

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (CBS): Spero Dedes, Jay Feely

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Washington Football Team (FOX): Adam Amin,  Mark Schlereth, Shannon Spake

Atlanta Falcons at Dallas Cowboys (FOX): Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Pam Oliver

New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans (CBS): Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (CBS): Andrew Catalon, James Lofton, Sherree Burruss

Detroit Lions at Pittsburgh Steelers (FOX): Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston, Jen Hale

Cleveland Browns at New England Patriots (CBS): Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn

4:05 p.m. ET Kickoff

Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Chargers (FOX): Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez, Laura Okmin

Carolina Panthers at Arizona Cardinals (FOX): Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Sara Walsh

4:25 p.m. ET Kickoff

Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers (CBS): Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson

Philadelphia Eagles at Denver Broncos (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Adam Archuleta

Sunday Night Football (8:20 ET kickoff)

Kansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas Raiders (NBC): Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michelle Tafoya

Monday Night Football (8:15 ET kickoff)

Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers (ESPN): Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Louis Riddick, Lisa Salters

 

Kenny Albert’s call of the Lightning winning the Stanley Cup was perfect

This was so good.

Some fans may have thought it was an obvious turn of phrase to say what Kenny Albert did on NBC when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup for a second straight season.

But it doesn’t matter. It was perfect, the exact right line to deliver.

Albert delivered it with a shout: “Lightning strikes twice! The Tampa Bay Lightning win their second straight Stanley Cup!”

I mean, does it get any better than that? Nope. And a lot of fans totally agreed, as you’ll see below.

Check out the call and the reaction, and see if you also think it was perfect: