Jim Nantz has called many signature events during his nearly 40 years at CBS Sports. He'll reach a milestone on Sunday, though, that only a few NFL announcers have accomplished.
Nantz will call his 500th NFL game when the Buffalo Bills host the Denver Broncos in an AFC wild-card round game.
According to CBS records, Nantz is the first person in CBS’ storied NFL history to work 500 games as a play-by-play announcer. Pat Summerall did more than 500 games at CBS, but started as an analyst in 1962 after retiring from playing. He moved to play-by-play midway through the 1974 season.
“That’s a lot of games. It’s just staggering,” Nantz said. “With the historic relationship between the league and CBS that no one else can boast about and to think I have been given the blessing of calling more NFL games play-by-play than anyone in the network’s history, it’s meaningful and something that resonates for me.”
Nantz will be the eighth NFL TV play-by-play announcer to reach 500 games, but only the second with all of his games at one network.
Kenny Albert, who has done games since Fox got the NFL in 1994, reached the milestone on Oct. 13 when the Cleveland Browns faced the Philadelphia Eagles.
According to research from the 506 Sports Archive, Al Michaels, Dick Stockton, Don Criqui, Summerall, Kevin Harlan and Charlie Jones, are also part of The 500 Club.
Joe Buck is at 494 going into Monday night’s NFC wild-card game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams in Arizona.
Sunday will be Nantz’s 69th playoff game, including seven Super Bowls and 20 AFC championship games. Last week’s Week 18 contest in Denver between the Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs was his 431st regular-season game.
Nantz’s first NFL game for CBS was on Oct. 16, 1988, when he called the Indianapolis Colts' 35-31 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Pat Haden. He called seven games between 1988 and ’90 before being added to the regular rotation of announcers in 1991. In 1993, he was part of the network’s No. 2 crew calling games with Randy Cross, and worked the NFC divisional round game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers on Jan. 16, 1994.
That would be the last NFL game Nantz would call for a while, though, as CBS lost the NFL rights to Fox.
CBS regained the rights to the league beginning with the 1998 season, but Nantz would not return to the booth until 2004. He hosted “The NFL Today” for six seasons (1998 though 2003).
In 1997, he considered an offer to host ABC’s “Good Morning America,” but CBS Sports president Sean McManus got him to stay with a persuasive pitch that ended up becoming reality.
“My contract was up, and Sean said, ‘You’re not going to do that. You’re staying right here. We’re going to get the NFL back.’” Nantz said. “I spent almost my youth daydreaming about working for CBS Sports one day. I loved the NFL presentation with Pat and Tom Brookshier, later Pat and John (Madden), and going back to Ray Scott. Sean knew me well enough from his days as an agent (at IMG), and he told me this is what I’ve always wanted to do.
"And on Jan. 12, 1998, guess what? We got the NFL back, just as he said we would.”
After moving from “The NFL Today″ studio, Nantz’s first game back doing play-by-play was the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 12, 2004. This is his 21st season as CBS’ lead announcer. The first 13 were with Phil Simms before Tony Romo became the lead analyst in 2017. Tracy Wolfson has been the sideline reporter since 2014.
Nantz’s other regular partners were Haden, Cross, Ken Stabler, Tim Brant, Hank Stram and Dan Fouts. Bill Cowher and Boomer Esiason were also in the booth for one-game stints.
Nantz has plenty of memories from the first 499 games. He called Bill Belichick’s first NFL game as a head coach when the Cleveland Browns hosted the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 1, 1991. He also has workedthree games that ended on Hail Mary passes, most recently Jayden Daniels’ 52-yard scramble and heave to Noah Brown earlier this season to lead the Washington Commanders over the Chicago Bears.
Nantz also got to call Kansas City’s overtime victory over San Francisco in last year’s Super Bowl, which set the record for the most-watched television program in U.S. history.
Besides seeing the beginning of the Troy Aikman-Brett Favre rivalry, Nantz has seen the memorable matchups between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as well as being the soundtrack for the series of games between Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo’s Josh Allen. Nantz and Romo have called seven of the eight matchups between the two star quarterbacks.
Nantz, who turns 66 on May 17, shows no sign of slowing, especially with two more playoff games to call after Sunday.
"My time with Tony, I’ve never enjoyed it more. I’m having more fun now than I ever have in my career," he said. "I’ve got a lot more work to do, but this is one of those weeks where you pause and think about the journey, how you got here and how fortunate you are."
This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Nantz's name in a photo caption.
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CORRECTS SPELLING OF FAMILY NAME FILE - CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz arrives for the Cincinnati Bengals-Dallas Cowboys NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth, File)
FILE - Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, right, and teammate defensive end Carlos Dunlap celebrate as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, holding the Lamar Hunt Trophy, is interviewed by Jim Nantz of CBS after they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals inthe NFL AFC Championship playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)
FILE - Tony Romo, left, and Jim Nantz work in the broadcast booth before an NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
FILE - CBS broadcaster Jim Nance arrives for the Cincinnati Bengals-Dallas Cowboys NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth, File)
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Three more Israelis held captive in the Gaza Strip are on the verge of being freed Saturday as part of a shaky ceasefire deal that requires Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
The truce that began nearly four weeks ago had been jeopardized in recent days by a tense dispute that threatened to renew the fighting.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to remove more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has cast even more doubt on the future of the ceasefire.
But Hamas said Thursday it would move ahead with the release of more hostages after talks with Egyptian and Qatari officials. The group said the mediators had pledged to “remove all hurdles” to assure Israel would allow more tents, medical supplies and other essentials into Gaza.
It will be the sixth swap since the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19. So far, 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners have been freed during the first phase of the truce.
As with previous exchanges, dozens of masked, armed Hamas fighters lined up near a stage festooned with Palestinian flags and the banners of militant factions while music blared from loudspeakers.
The militants are expected to parade the hostages before crowds and cameras onto the stage, which has been set up near a heavily damaged multistory building, before handing them over to the Red Cross. The humanitarian organization will then transport them to Israeli forces
The three hostages set to be released after more than 16 months in captivity are: Iair Horn, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, who is American-Israeli; and Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29, who holds Israeli and Russian citizenship.
The trio were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit communities in southern Israel during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the devastating war.
Horn was abducted along with his brother, Eitan Horn, who had been staying with him at the time. Eitan remains in captivity.
Dekel Chen had been working outside when militants stormed the kibbutz. His wife hid in a safe room with their two daughters. She gave birth to their third daughter two months later.
Troufanov was taken hostage along with his grandmother, mother and girlfriend. The three women were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Troufanov’s father was killed in the Oct. 7 attack.
The Hamas-linked Prisoners’ Information Office said Friday that 369 Palestinians were set to be released from Israeli prisons on Saturday. It said 36 of those were serving life sentences.
Among the most prominent Palestinian prisoners set to be released is Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide of Marwan Barghouti, a militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure.
Israel sentenced Ahmed Barghouti to life on charges that he dispatched suicide bombers during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the early 2000s to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians. He was arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in 2002.
Of the 251 people abducted, 73 remain in Gaza, around half of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly all the remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers.
Concern has been growing about the remaining hostages’ condition, particularly after the release of three last Saturday, who emerged looking emaciated and frail.
One of them, 65-year-old Keith Siegel, said Friday in a video message addressed to Trump that his captors treated him worse as the 15-month war intensified, kicking him, spitting on him and holding him without water or light.
The ceasefire appeared dangerously close to collapse in recent days.
Hamas had said it would delay the release of the hostages after accusing Israel of not adhering to their agreement by not allowing in enough shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble. Israel said it would resume fighting Saturday unless hostages were freed.
While the immediate crisis may have been averted, the truce faces a much bigger challenge with the deal’s first phase set to conclude in early March. There have not yet been substantive negotiations over the second phase, in which Hamas would release all remaining hostages in return for an end to the war.
At its height, the fighting displaced 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands have since returned to their homes as the ceasefire took hold, though many found only rubble, buried human remains and unexploded ordnance.
The war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Trump’s proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has thrown the truce’s future into further doubt.
The idea has been welcomed by Israel’s government. But it has been strongly rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries. Human rights groups say it could amount to a war crime under international law.
Trump has proposed that once the fighting ends, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the United States, which would then redevelop it as the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right allies are already calling for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the goal of destroying Hamas and implementing Trump’s plan. The militant group remains in control of the territory after surviving one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.
Hamas may be unwilling to release any more hostages if it believes the war will resume. The captives are among the only bargaining chips it has left.
Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip
Palestinians gather to attend Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians gather to attend the Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians perform Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians gather to attend Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians queue for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians queue for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians queue for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians queue for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
