How many NFL games has Jim Nantz called? Looking back at legendary broadcaster's illustrious career

Legendary broadcaster Jim Nantz bid farewell as the voice of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, having covered over 300 NFL games.

The 2023 edition of “March Madness” was his 37th, and it’s fitting that it occurred in the city where his career began: Houston, Texas. The 63-year-old closed the coverage of the national championship game between Connecticut and San Diego State eloquently:

“One thing I learned through all of this is everybody has a dream. And everybody has a story to tell. Just try to find that story. Be kind. But to you, everybody in the college game, the CBS family, my family, the viewers: thank you for being my friend."

While he has stepped down from college basketball, he's not leaving sportscasting for good. He has made way to his successor, Ian Eagle, to spend more time with his family, having spent time away from home for most of the year.

Golf fans will still hear his “Hello, friends.” catchphrase during the 2023 Masters starting April 6. He will continue to be NFL on CBS’ play-by-play announcer alongside analyst and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

With the 2023 NFL season being his 20th full-time campaign for CBS, it’s fascinating to know the number of football games he has called.

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Jim Nantz adds excitement to CBS booth

Jim Nantz became CBS’ premier NFL play-by-play announcer in 2004. Using the basic equation of multiplying the number of seasons under his belt by 16, he has covered at least 304 games. Make that number 306, as the league added a 17th regular season game in 2021. However, that’s only the base, as he has been a part of the network’s NFL coverage since 1991.

He and Tim Brant then shared play-by-play duties, with Hank Stram as their analyst. In 1993, Nantz covered the second-round playoff game between the Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers with Randy Cross. He was also the play-by-play for Super Bowls XLI, LIII and LV.

Covering those games placed him in rarefied air, becoming only the fourth man to have called a Super Bowl and an NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship game.

Jim Nantz is also one of only two poeple to have covered a Super Bowl, NCAA title game and a Masters tournament. Another legendary sportscaster, Brent Musberger, holds that distinction. However, Nantz is one-of-a-kind, being the only person to have covered the Super Bowl, NCAA tournament and The Masters in the same year. What’s mind-blowing is that he has done it four times.

Counting all the one-off coverage before doing it full-time, Jim Nantz may have covered more than 350 NFL games in the last three decades.

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Jim Nantz: An award-winning icon and human being

Aside from football, basketball and golf, Jim Nantz also lent his voice to two college football national championship games and the 1998 Winter Olympics. He also covered the US Open tennis tournament for a decade and has been a guest commentator at The British Open since 2009.

That’s a long way from his humble beginnings as a sportscaster for KHOU in Houston and KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah. Transferring to the Beehive State allowed him to cover BYU football and Utah Jazz basketball games, as well.

His excellence did not go unnoticed. He won the National Sports Media Association National Sportscaster of the Year award in 1998, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Nantz is also a two-time Sports Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Play-By-Play Sports Personality.

He received the Curt Gowdy Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 too. He added Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award to his collection nine years later.

Nantz parlayed his popularity by appearing in several television series like How I Met Your Mother and Criminal Minds. The CBS commentator has had product endorsements for Papa John’s and Capital One. Nantz has an autobiography, Always By My Side, which peaked at number three in the New York Times best-selling books list.

Beyond his achievements, though, he stayed true to his catchphrase by being a friend to everyone. He attended the wedding of fellow sportscaster Jack Whitaker and gave a eulogy at Jim McKay’s funeral. However, his lasting legacy would be the Nantz National Alzheimer Center, which he opened in honor of his dad, Jim Jr.

The younger Nantz collaborated with the Texas Medical Center to fund innovative discoveries in diagnosing and treating the disease. The center also studies the possible link between athlete concussions and Alzheimer’s.

While he's not manifesting signs of slowing down, Jim Nantz is already a champion. He’s not just one of the best in the broadcast booth but is also a winner in the game of life.