CBS goes to Iraq on Super Sunday
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CBS recently sent out a preliminary press release that included a few of the highlights of its planned Super Bowl coverage on Feb. 4.
One item was that Jim Nantz and Phil Simms would call the game. Another was that Katie Couric would contribute to the pregame show.
Then came this one: “Randy Cross to report live from Iraq with American troops.”
Reached at his home in Alpharetta, Ga., Cross said he not only volunteered for the assignment, it was his idea.
Last April, the former offensive lineman went to Afghanistan for six days to visit U.S. troops there after being invited by Ron Barr of the Sports Byline USA radio network. Barr chose Cross partly because of the family’s military background -- Cross’ dad was a Marine.
In Afghanistan, he got to know the troops pretty well.
“I mingled with them, worked out with them, ate with them and talked to them,” he said. “Whenever I would meet one of the soldiers, the first words I’d hear were, ‘Thank you.’ They were just so appreciative that someone had taken the time to visit them.
“It was an unbelievable experience to be around the troops and see their attitude. When you see the looks on their faces, it makes you feel so good that to do it again is an honor.”
Cross said the first thing he did after he got back from Afghanistan was talk with Eric Mann, the producer of “The NFL Today” and the Super Bowl pregame show, and Tony Petitti, the executive vice president of CBS Sports.
He told them he wanted to go back to Afghanistan or Iraq to be with the troops on Super Bowl Sunday.
It was an easy sale.
Networks in the past have shown footage of U.S. troops on Super Bowl Sunday but never sent an announcer to be with them.
Cross, who starred at Crespi High in Encino and was a two-time All-American at UCLA, spent 13 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers before getting into sports broadcasting. Cross, his wife Patrice and their three children have lived in the Atlanta area for the past 15 years, but Cross said his mother, two sisters and a number of relatives still live in Southern California.
Cross won’t be making the trip to Iraq alone. Suzanne Smith, a director-producer for CBS Sports, is also going.
“When Randy told me about his plans, I said, ‘You’re going to need a producer, aren’t you?’ ” Smith recalled.
Smith said once they arrive in Baghdad, the plan going in is to arrange a touch football game among the troops on the eve of the Super Bowl, with Cross serving as the referee and interacting with the players. The game will be taped and highlights will be shown in a live spot with Cross and military personnel during the pregame show.
Super Bowl kickoff is scheduled for around 3:25 p.m. PST. At that time, it will be 2:25 a.m. in Baghdad, and the live spot with Cross and the troops will be sometime before then.
“I’ll guarantee we will have plenty of soldiers there,” Cross said. “Military people work on a 24-hour clock. There is always a lot of activity.”
Cross said he was a little nervous when he went to Afghanistan last year.
“I’m less apprehensive now,” he said. “In fact, I’m looking forward to it.”
Get ready for the Super Bowl onslaught:
* ESPN will have more than 90 hours of Super Bowl-related programming on its domestic television networks beginning Sunday. And it will have Super Bowl content across 14 platforms, including ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN.com, the ESPN360 broadband service and ESPN the Magazine.
* NFL Network will have more than 100 hours of coverage, with 55 hours live and 63 hours in high definition. NFL Network’s coverage will include every NFL-related news conference. SuperBowl.com will also carry the news conferences and other NFL Network programming.
* FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show” will originate from Miami all next week.
* HBO’s “Inside the NFL” will originate from Miami on Wednesday night and include an interview Bob Costas taped with Bill Walsh in Palo Alto earlier this week.
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