By Richie Zyontz
FOX NFL Lead Producer
Editor’s Observe: Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and is in his twenty third season because the lead producer. He has greater than 40 years of expertise masking the league and has produced seven Tremendous Bowls. All through the 2024 NFL season, he’s offering an inside look as FOX’s new No. 1 NFL staff, together with NFL legend Tom Brady, makes its journey towards Tremendous Bowl LIX. Learn extra behind-the-scenes tales from Richie Zyontz right here.
The Inexperienced Bay Packers‘ recreation at Minnesota in Week 17 all the time stood out like a jewel on the NFL schedule. Our crew had but to see the Vikings in particular person, so all of us appeared ahead to this vital showdown.
December visits to Minneapolis conjure up ideas of lengthy underwear and freezing temperatures. And sure, by means of the years, we’ve skilled our share of blizzards — and even a stadium roof collapse.
However my enduring recollections from greater than 40 years of visits to “The Land of 10,000 Lakes” are fully heat.
Maybe the journey that stands out most got here in Jan. 1992 throughout the week main as much as CBS’ protection of Tremendous Bowl 26 between the Buffalo Payments and Washington Redskins. With a day to kill, I instructed to John Madden that we discover the world of ice fishing, which he quickly agreed to.
Evidently, we had no concept what we had been entering into.
Forward of Tremendous Bowl 26, members of the CBS broadcast staff, together with the writer (second from left), John Madden (far proper) and producer Lance Barrow (left of Madden), determined to attempt their fingers at ice fishing. (Photograph courtesy of Richie Zyontz)
So, with the assistance of a neighborhood information, we jumped on the Madden Cruiser and drove 75 miles north to Mille Lacs, the place we spent a number of hours fruitlessly jigging our strains in a gap, catching no fish. That, in itself, was fairly an accomplishment. Some locals felt so unhealthy for us that they loaded our bucket with walleye and perch and despatched us on our merry approach.
Subsequent factor I do know, Madden was on the cellphone with the late media author and kibitzer from USA Right now, Rudy Martzke, who the subsequent day wrote about Madden’s haul from his day on the ice. Madden’s nice piece of disinformation within the article summed up the expertise: “We caught ‘em, we cleaned ‘em, we cooked ‘em and we ate ‘em.”
No one may cook dinner up an ideal story fairly like John Madden!
[Related: More from Tom Brady | More from Richie Zyontz]
Battle of the Northland
Now again to the unique premise.
The conflict between these two NFC North rivals was the most well liked ticket in current reminiscence, in keeping with Vikings officers. Anticipation of huge video games actually will get the juices flowing — for gamers, coaches, followers and broadcasting crews. With solely 280 miles and a four-and-a-half drive separating these cities, the ocean of purple Skol chanters was dotted with patches of golden Cheeseheads.
The modern, glass-themed backdrop of U.S. Financial institution Stadium belied the gritty, black-and-blue nature of this rivalry.
It’s exhausting to think about legendary head coaches Vince Lombardi and Bud Grant exchanging pleasantries previous to a recreation on the outdated Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. But proper earlier than our eyes, an hour earlier than the sport, Inexperienced Bay coach Matt LaFleur and Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell had been hugging it out. After all, they’re buddies and have a shared historical past collectively, however nonetheless … what would Bud have thought?
I as soon as requested the famously laconic Grant what it was like battling it out with Lombardi all these years. His reply summed up these instances clearly and succinctly: “Lombardi was a prick.”
Matt LaFleur and Kevin O’Connell are buddies, however what would the nice Bud Grant have considered this trade? (Photograph by Stephen Maturen/Getty Pictures)
A Crew Effort
A broadcast is barely pretty much as good because the efforts of the technical crew. They do all of the exhausting work and set the desk for us to make good selections within the truck. We attempt to not allow them to down. On Sunday, the desk was set completely.
Our cameras captured the depth of the day with a continuing circulate of inside-the-helmet response pictures. LaFleur doesn’t cover his feelings, which is to our profit. Earlier within the season on a Zoom name, he sheepishly informed us his spouse wasn’t joyful seeing him yelling and looking out depressing on tv on a regular basis.
We took that as a praise. And once more on Sunday, it was the numerous faces of LaFleur that added cinematic taste to the manufacturing.
One key to the sport, which we mentioned at size at our Saturday assembly, was how Inexperienced Bay would deal with Minnesota’s all-world receiver Justin Jefferson. The reply was illustrated by means of many high-angle replays of the Packers protection double- and typically triple-teaming him.
It’s straightforward for broadcasters to comply with the ball, however taking the viewer away from the ball usually tells a greater story.
The sounds from the trenches had been great, particularly when Minnesota had the ball and the house crowd followers had been sipping their beers as an alternative of screaming their lungs out. Quarterback Sam Darnold’s voice and cadence got here by means of loud and clear. And this allowed Tom Brady to information us by means of what all of the gibberish means.
One of many areas we knew Brady may dominate as a broadcaster was by explaining all of the machinations on the line of scrimmage. And because the season has progressed, he has delivered massive time, translating the seemingly indecipherable quarterback language into plain English. His weekly tackle quarterback play is all the time fascinating to listen to. It’s an old-school take that the quarterback should present management by means of toughness and intelligence. Take successful. Be good with the ball.
Darnold additionally delivered massive time, incomes Brady’s fixed reward and checking all his containers of profitable quarterback play. And man can he zip the ball. His spirals appeared sensational in NFL Movies-quality tremendous slo-motion. Previous to the sport, the Vikings had been the staff flying beneath the radar. After beating Inexperienced Bay 27-25, the Vikings is perhaps the staff we see in New Orleans in February.
So now we go from the black-and-blue depth of the NFC North to the pastel colours of the NFC South, because the Tampa Bay Bucs can clinch their division with a win over New Orleans.
The season has flown by, and the Tremendous Bowl now looms solely 39 days away. We don’t know which groups might be enjoying within the massive recreation, however we relish the truth that our crew might be there, prepared and wanting to tackle no matter surprises the sport sends our approach.
And this time, there is not going to be any frozen lakes to fish, efficiently or in any other case.
Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and is in his twenty third season as lead producer. He boasts greater than 40 years of expertise masking the NFL.

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