The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
CBS’ Brown to host record 10th Super Bowl pregame show
CBS’ James Brown knows what it is like to host Super Bowl pregame shows when the day transcended beyond the teams competing for a championship.
Brown hosted Fox’s pregame for the 2002 Super Bowl, which occurred nearly five months after 9/11. With the coronavirus pandemic still at the forefront, Brown realizes Sunday’s “Super Bowl Today” show could offer the same opportunities, but in a different manner.
“Typically, sporting events offer a respite to get away and to enjoy hopefully a competitive game. People are looking for that kind of relief and coming off of all that we’ve gone through, there’s a strong desire, hopefully, to become more unified,” Brown said. “It will be in a different sense of 9/11 because that was a celebration of withstanding the attempt at our country, but it was very patriotic and unifying. This is a different kind of backdrop where many people have just been fatigued, given all of the challenges that we’ve had to endure during this time.”
This will be a record 10th Super Bowl pregame hosted by Brown and his sixth for CBS. He didn’t even know that anyone kept track until someone mentioned two years ago that he tied Brent Musburger, who coincidentally anchored seven of his nine with CBS.
But when it comes to Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, Brown’s philosophy in navigating a four-hour show won’t be any different than what he does during the season — plenty of research and making sure those around him perform at their best.