Fox NFL Sunday
The pre-game show for NFL on Fox.
Fox NFL Sunday is an American sports television program that airs on the Fox television network as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League game telecasts under the NFL on Fox brand. It debuted on September 4, 1994, and was the first hour-long NFL pregame show on a broadcast television network. An audio simulcast of the program airs on sister radio network Fox Sports Radio, distributed by Premiere Radio Networks.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- NFL pre-game show
- Narrator
- Dick Ervasti (1994–2001); John Garry (2006–present)
- Theme music
- Scott Schreer
- Opening theme
- "NFL on Fox theme music"
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 32 (through 2025 season)
- Location
- Fox Network Center (Fox Studio Lot Building 101), 10201 W Pico Blvd, Century City, Los Angeles, California
Facts from the source article.
History
Fox NFL Sunday first aired on September 4, 1994, the same day Fox began broadcasting NFL games after securing the rights to the National Football Conference. The original hosting team consisted of James Brown, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson, with Brown and Bradshaw moving over from CBS to lead the network’s football coverage. This show made history as the first hour-long NFL pregame program on a broadcast network; earlier shows like CBS’s The NFL Today and NBC’s NFL Live! were only 30 minutes long. Fox took a more casual and playful approach compared to its rivals, aiming to attract a younger audience. It was also the first network pregame show to be based in Los Angeles, while CBS and NBC produced their shows from New York City (CBS still does, and NBC now works from Stamford, Connecticut).
In his first season, Jimmy Johnson often appeared on the show via satellite from his Florida home, fueling rumors that he might return to coaching. Before the year ended, Johnson stated he was content in broadcasting, but in 1996 he left to become head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Ronnie Lott replaced him and remained for two seasons. During Johnson’s early run, the show’s opening often featured a comedic skit with the hosts.
In 1998, after NBC lost the AFC broadcast rights to CBS, Cris Collinsworth joined Fox NFL Sunday as an analyst, taking over for Ronnie Lott. Around this time, the program became known for claymation promotional segments where the hosts appeared as animated characters interacting with real NFL players. Starting with the 1999 season, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, then co-hosting Comedy Central’s The Man Show and Win Ben Stein’s Money, began offering weekly game picks and performing comedy bits. The next year, Jillian Barberie, a weather anchor from Los Angeles Fox station KTTV’s Good Day L.A., was brought on to give forecasts for each week’s game locations.
Cleatus the Robot
Cleatus the Robot is the official mascot of Fox NFL Sunday and Fox Sports as a whole. This animated character was brought to life by Legacy Effects, with a look inspired by the eight-year-old son of Fox Sports executive vice president Gary Hartley. The design was a graphic take on a hybrid robotic football-player-slash-cowboy. Viewers got to name the robot through a contest in the winter of 2007, submitting their ideas. Cleatus first showed up on the program during the 2005-06 NFL season, though he didn't become a regular fixture until the next year.
The robot mostly appears in the show's opening sequence, as well as in sponsorship tags that air during breaks and game telecasts. He also pops up in Fox Sports identifications used to close broadcasts and cue local ads, plus in brief promotions for movies and TV series. In those promos, he often gets attacked by a CGI character from whatever is being advertised—like Iron Man, a dragon from Eragon, a T-1000 from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, or even The Burger King, who taunts him by throwing things. Beyond that, Cleatus is shown hopping on two feet, playing an electric guitar, shaking out his limbs, and doing dance moves like The Swim and the Electric Slide. During a Denver Broncos game on December 11, 2011, he even performed a Tebow—the kneeling prayer pose made famous by Tim Tebow.
For games airing the weekend after New Year's Day, Cleatus is typically seen sitting on a bench with an ice pack on his head, as if nursing a hangover. During the MLB postseason in October through the World Series, he takes baseballs from a basket and hits them with a bat into the background. On Fox's Thanksgiving NFL broadcasts, he is usually swapped out for a robotic turkey. Fox has also produced an action figure of Cleatus, sold on the Fox Sports website, available in his standard look or in special uniforms for all 32 NFL teams.
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