Sunday NFL Countdown (branded asSunday NFL Countdown presented bySnickers for sponsorship reasons) is an Americanpre-game show broadcast byESPN as part of the network's coverage of theNational Football League. The program is broadcast on Sunday mornings throughout the regular season, featuring segments highlighting news from around the league, as well as previews and analysis of the day's games. The program debuted asNFL GameDay on September 7, 1985, then was renamed asNFL Countdown in 1996, andSunday NFL Countdown in 1998 to disambiguate it from its Monday night counterpartMonday Night Countdown. During theNFL playoffs, editions of the show (along with Monday Night Countdown) are titled asPostseason NFL Countdown.
It is very similar toThe NFL Today onCBS andFox NFL Sunday, which airs onFox. The show's former names includeNFL GameDay[1] from 1985 to 1995,NFL Countdown from 1996 to 1997, and since 1998,Sunday NFL Countdown (to demarcate from theMonday night version of the series). In 2006, the program introduced new graphics and a new logo to resemble the network'sMonday Night Football logo.
The show's awards include sevenSports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Weekly Show (1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2003, and 2006 seasons) and fiveCableACE Awards (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995 seasons).
In February 2007, ESPN confirmed an earlier report in theDallas Morning News thatMichael Irvin would not be brought back to the show or to the network. On March 12, ESPN confirmed on its website thatMichael Irvin's former teammate,Emmitt Smith would fill Irvin's chair, but that arrangement only lasted one season.[6]Keyshawn Johnson also joined the network and has served as an analyst forCountdown, among other programs.[7]
On September 7, 2014, which was the 35th anniversary of ESPN's launch,Sunday NFL Countdown debuted a brand-new studio inside Digital Center 2 of ESPN's main facilities in Bristol. With it, came a new logo and also, a new graphics package similar to that ofSportsCenter. LikeSportsCenter, aHelvetica font is used, but with the lower-thirds having white text on a black background, as opposed to black text on a white background.[8] Starting September 8, every NFL show produced at ESPN now shares its new graphics, new logo, and a new set (exceptMonday Night Countdown, which itself shares the same graphics package and theme music asMonday Night Football).
On September 13, 2015,Sunday NFL Countdown was shortened from 3 hours to 2 hours, due to a new Sunday edition ofNFL Insiders being aired in the 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET time slot. Therefore,Sunday NFL Countdown was moved down an hour to 11 a.m. ET. On September 10, 2017,Sunday NFL Countdown moved back to the 10 a.m. ET time slot and became a 3-hour program once again, resulting in the cancellation ofNFL Insiders: Sunday Edition after 2 seasons.[9]
The show usually originates from Bristol, but it originates in the city hosting theSuper Bowl for its Super Bowl edition. On November 20, 2016, the show originated fromMexico City, which was hosting theMonday Night Football game the following night between theHouston Texans andOakland Raiders. In January 2017, ESPN announced that Berman would leave the show at the end of the 2016–17 season, ending his 31-year tenure as host of this program.[10] Berman was replaced withSam Ponder, who had previously co-hosted and contributed toCollege GameDay from 2012 to 2016.[11]
On September 13, 2020,Sunday NFL Countdown moved from Bristol to the network'sSouth Street Seaport studios in New York City. Its sister Monday night show followed the next day. BothSunday NFL Countdown andMonday Night Countdown now share the same studio with another ESPN show,First Take. Monday Night Countdown went back on the road in 2021, but still aired from Seaport occasionally. Sunday NFL Countdown moved back to Bristol during the2023 season after ESPN started scaling back on production at Seaport. Monday Night Countdown followed suit for select weeks including doubleheader weeks.
On August 20, 2024, ESPN namedMike Greenberg, host of the network's weekday morning show,Get Up, as the new host ofSunday NFL Countdown. He replaced Samantha Ponder (the show's previous host), who, along withRobert Griffin III, were both terminated from ESPN earlier that month.
On July 14, 2003,ESPN announced thatRush Limbaugh would be joining the show as a weekly commentator when it premiered on September 7. Limbaugh would provide the "voice of the fan" and was supposed to spark debate on the show.[12] On September 28, Limbaugh commented aboutDonovan McNabb, the quarterback of thePhiladelphia Eagles:
"Sorry to say this, I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."[13]
On October 1, 2003, less than one week after that comment, Limbaugh resigned fromESPN. The following Sunday on airTom Jackson said about Limbaugh:
"Let me just say that it was not our decision to have Rush Limbaugh on this show. I've seen replay after replay of Limbaugh's comments with my face attached as well as that of my colleagues, comments which made us very uncomfortable at the time, although the depth and the insensitive nature of which weren't fully felt until it seemed too late to reply. He was brought here to talk football, and he broke that trust. Rush told us the social commentary for which he is so well known would not cross over to our show, and instead, he would represent the viewpoint of the intelligent, passionate fan. Rush Limbaugh was not a fit forNFL Countdown."[14]
^Dempsey, John (May 23, 2007)."ESPN signs NFL's Keyshawn Johnson".variety.com. Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC.Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. RetrievedDecember 4, 2019.
^"Sam Ponder".espnpressroom.com. ESPN, Inc.Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. RetrievedDecember 4, 2019.
^Oei, Lily (July 15, 2003)."ESPN hands Rush the ball".variety.com. Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC.Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. RetrievedNovember 30, 2019.
