Behind the Mic: Prime Video Welcomes New Trio to Thursday Night Football; Jason McCourty Joins NFL Network’s Good Morning Football

Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Prime Video Welcomes Kaylee Hartung as Thursday Night Football Sideline Reporter; Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib Join as Pregame, Halftime, and Postgame Contributors and Former Super Bowl Champion Jason McCourty Added to NFL Network’s ‘Good Morning Football’

Prime Video Welcomes Kaylee Hartung as Thursday Night Football Sideline Reporter; Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib Join as Pregame, Halftime, and Postgame Contributors

Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football team continues to take shape, as the streamer today announced three new on-air talent additions to its expanding roster of award-winning broadcasters and decorated NFL players with fresh-off-the-field perspectives. Accomplished reporter Kaylee Hartung, who has worked across both news and sports throughout her career, will patrol the sidelines during Thursday Night Football’s game coverage, joining renowned play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and fellow Emmy-winner Kirk Herbstreit.

Additionally, Super Bowl Champions Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib will join Thursday Night Football as contributors to Prime Video’s comprehensive wraparound coverage, providing depth and texture to pregame, halftime, and postgame segments. The former teammates will reunite on TNF, working with host Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Richard Sherman, and Ryan Fitzpatrick throughout the season.

“We are thrilled to announce these new additions to our Thursday Night Football team. Kaylee Hartung will bring her world-class reporting skills to our game coverage every Thursday and Super Bowl winning Pro Bowlers Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib are proven champions who will bring their unique insights to our NFL coverage every week,” said Marie Donoghue, Prime Video’s VP, Global Sports Video.

“This is an unbelievable opportunity to return to the sidelines and create something new in the sports landscape,” said Hartung. “Prime Video is bringing together legends in broadcasting and the NFL and it will be a tremendous privilege to work alongside them.”

“I’m excited to start this next chapter of my NFL life with the Prime Video team, and I look forward to being part of football in a whole new way this fall,” said Whitworth.

“I’m excited to reunite with Andrew and be a part of this new frontier for the NFL and Prime Video,” said Talib. “I’m looking forward to sharing my perspectives and connecting with fans on Thursday Night Football.”

Throughout her career, Hartung has worked in a variety of reporting roles, including most recently for ABC News. On Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir, and Nightline, she covered top headlines and interviewed stars in sports and entertainment. Prior to ABC, Hartung was a correspondent for CNN, reporting on breaking news coast-to-coast. She was also an award-winning sports reporter for ESPN for five years, appearing regularly on SportsCenter and contributing to the network’s coverage of the biggest college sporting events in the country, including the College Football Playoffs and the College World Series.

Whitworth began his outstanding career as a tackle at Louisiana State University, where he twice earned first-team All-SEC honors. He broke into the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he protected the pocket for Prime Video’s Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2007 and 2008. In 2017, Whitworth joined the Los Angeles Rams, where he closed out the final chapter of his 16 seasons in the NFL with a Super Bowl championship in February 2022. Throughout his professional career, Whitworth earned four Pro Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pro selections.

Talib rose to national prominence at the University of Kansas, where he earned consensus All-American honors in 2007 before being selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Talib’s impressive NFL career includes five Pro Bowl selections, two All-Pro selections, and a Super Bowl 50 championship with the Denver Broncos.

Hartung, Whitworth, and Talib join an expanding roster of Prime Video Thursday Night Football on-air talent that includes legendary play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, five-time Emmy-winning analyst Kirk Herbstreit, Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, NFL quarterback extraordinaire Ryan Fitzpatrick, and NFL expert and top sports television host Charissa Thompson. Fred Gaudelli, producer of seven Super Bowls and a recent inductee into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, will serve as the executive producer of Thursday Night Football’s game coverage. Multi-Emmy-award-winners Mike Muriano and Spoon Daftary are the executive and senior coordinating producers of Thursday Night Football’s pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage. Additional members of the TNF on-air team will be announced over the coming weeks.

Kicking off September 15, Prime Video will become the first streaming service to air a season-long exclusive national broadcast package with the NFL. The 11-year deal includes 15 regular-season games and one preseason game per year, with Prime Video also delivering new pregame, halftime, and postgame shows as well as fan-favorite interactive features like X-Ray and Next Gen Stats powered by AWS. Viewers can stream from the web at amazon.com or by using the Prime Video app, which is available on smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, game consoles, and connected TVs. Each Thursday Night Football game will also stream live on Twitch and will be available on over-the-air TV stations in the two home markets of the competing teams.

Former Super Bowl Champion Jason McCourty Added to NFL Network’s ‘Good Morning Football’

Former Super Bowl champion cornerback Jason McCourty has been added to NFL Network’s Emmy Award-winning show Good Morning Football, it was announced today.

McCourty will make his debut on the show Monday, July 25, along with recently announced host Jamie Erdahl. The pair join Peter Schrager, Kyle Brandt and Will Selva on the show, locking in the new permanent cast of Good Morning Football which airs Monday-Friday at 7:00 AM ET live from New York City on NFL Network.

“We are thrilled to add Jason to the cast of Good Morning Football following his outstanding NFL career,” said Mark Quenzel, NFL Network Senior Vice President, Head of Content. “Jason’s depth of knowledge, championship pedigree and dynamic personality stand out every time he is on-camera, and we are eager to watch him grow and develop in this new career. With Jason joining Jamie, Peter, Kyle and Will, we cannot wait for this next chapter of Good Morning Football to start.”

“I’m fired up to join the team at NFL Network because it enables me to step out of one locker room and into another,” said McCourty. “Being able to team up with Jamie, Peter, Kyle and Will gives me new teammates with the common goal of adding to the success of Good Morning Football. I look forward to the early mornings, great debates, laughter, and talking about the game I fell in love with. I know it will be a fun ride filled with fascinating guests and incredible segments. I will take full advantage of learning from my awesome co-hosts and production team. I’m excited to bring an inside perspective of what it’s like to be an NFL player. I’ve had the pleasure to experience it all in the NFL, from being drafted at the end of the sixth round, to being cut, then traded and finally retiring. I’ve endured seasons of 0-16 to hoisting a Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LIII. Good Morning Football now gives me the platform to share those experiences and lessons with fans all over the world.”

McCourty (@McCourtyTwins) joins NFL Network following a 13-year NFL career during which he amassed 18 interceptions in 173 career games for four teams. A sixth-round draft pick in 2009 out of Rutgers University, McCourty spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Tennessee Titans. After playing the 2017 season with the Cleveland Browns, McCourty was traded to the New England Patriots, reuniting him with twin brother Devin McCourty. He spent three seasons with the Patriots, becoming the first set of twins to play in and win a Super Bowl when New England defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII. McCourty spent the 2021 season with the Miami Dolphins before officially announcing his retirement on Friday, July 15.

McCourty currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and three children, and hosts the podcast Double Coverage with the McCourty Twins along with his brother.

Prime Video and WNBA Announce Commissioner’s Cup Broadcast Team

Today, Prime Video and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced their on-air broadcast team for the second annual WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase, airing exclusively on Prime Video on Tuesday, July 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Emmy-winners Sarah Kustok and Michael Grady will serve as analyst and play-by-play announcer, while Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and University of South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley will also contribute as an analyst.

This year, the defending WNBA Champion Chicago Sky and the Las Vegas Aces will face off in the 2022 Championship Game at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena. The Commissioner’s Cup is an in-season competition that designates a portion of games in the first half of the season—10 per team—as Cup play. The teams with the top record from each conference in Cup play then compete in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase for a $500,000 prize pool. Two tiebreakers were needed to decide the host for this year’s championship, in which the Sky earned homecourt advantage after recording the higher winning percentage in all regular-season games through July 7, at 16-6.

YES Network’s Kustok, a Chicago native and basketball broadcast veteran, will serve as lead analyst for the game. Kustok is a four-time Emmy-winner and has served as YES Network’s primary game analyst for the Brooklyn Nets since 2017, following five years as courtside reporter for the team. In addition to her work with YES Network, she is a regular contributor to FS1’s Men’s Big East regular season telecasts, FOX Sports 1’s First Things First morning show, Sirius XM NBA Radio, We Need to Talk on CBS Sports Network, and the NBA Flashback podcast on iHeart Radio. In 2020, Kustok was named to Cynopsis Media’s “Top Women in Sports” list, which recognizes top women in media.

Grady will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the Commissioner’s Cup title game. Grady joined the YES Network in September 2017 as its Brooklyn Nets courtside reporter, and currently handles play-by-play duties for YES’ WNBA New York Liberty telecasts. He won a New York Emmy Award in 2019 as part of YES’ season-long Nets coverage and was nominated for a Sports Reporter Emmy in 2021. Grady also hosts the interview show Appreciate You on YES’ digital platforms and guest hosts a show on SiriusXM.

Staley will serve as an analyst for the game alongside Kustok and Grady. A former six-time WNBA All-Star and three-time Olympic Gold medalist during her playing career, Staley has served as an NCAA basketball coach for over 20 seasons, leading the South Carolina Gamecocks to the Women’s NCAA National Basketball Championship in 2017 and 2022.

Zora Stephenson, who serves as the sideline reporter for the Milwaukee Bucks on Bally Sports Wisconsin, will be the sideline reporter at the Commissioner’s Cup. Stephenson made history last season when she became the first woman to do play-by-play for the Bucks when she filled in for Jim Paschke during the team’s game against the Atlanta Hawks at Fiserv Forum on April 9.

“We are honored to be the home of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game for a second consecutive year,” said Marie Donoghue, vice president of Global Sports Video at Amazon. “With All-Star players including Chicago’s Candace Parker and Las Vegas’ Kelsey Plum, and top-tier on-air talent to call the game, WNBA fans will have a lot to cheer for on Prime Video as the Chicago Sky take on the Las Vegas Aces for the 2022 Cup Championship title.”

Prime Video is streaming a total of 17 nationally televised in-season WNBA games, and approximately 30 Seattle Storm games locally in Washington State, during the 2022 season. Following the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase on July 26, three more games will air on Prime Video during the remainder of the WNBA season, in addition to select remaining Seattle Storm games to regional fans.

• Sunday, July 31 – Seattle Storm @ Washington Mystics – 3 p.m. ET
• Sunday, August 7 – Atlanta Dream @ Minnesota Lynx – 7 p.m. ET 
• Sunday, August 14 – TBC  

 The WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase on Prime Video will be available across hundreds of compatible devices worldwide as part of a Prime membership (excluding China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Finland, and Germany) including on the web or by using the Prime Video app on smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, game consoles, and select smart TVs. A complete list of compatible viewing devices can be found here.

SEC Network Welcomes NFL Veteran and SEC Legend Takeo Spikes as College Football Studio Analyst

Fifteen-year NFL veteran and Auburn Tiger great Takeo Spikes has signed a deal to join SEC Network as a college football studio analyst. Spikes will be a mainstay of the network’s SEC Now and SEC Football Final programs throughout the fall, and the two-time Pro Bowler kicks off his SEC Network tenure as part of SEC Kickoff Presented by Regions Bank, July 18-21.

“Back when SEC Network launched in 2014, I was watching from afar and over the past few years, I knew I wanted to be part of that team,” Spikes said. “I played against and with so many of my fellow analysts and I feel like this is where I belong. I’m ready to get started. I want viewers to really understand my perspective of the game I love, and they can expect me to be bold, engaging and dramatic.”

Spikes was a standout linebacker at Auburn and the 1997 SEC Championship Game MVP. He spent 15 seasons in the NFL, including stints with the Buffalo Bills, the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers. He was the 13th overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, starting his career with the Cincinnati Bengals. Spikes was a 2003 and 2004 Pro Bowler and First Team All-Pro with the Bills in 2004.

“We’ve had our eye on Takeo for a long time,” said Tom McCollum, ESPN vice president, production. “He brings an energy and expertise that fits well with our crew and his passion for the SEC runs deep. He will be a great addition to our studio on Fridays and Saturdays.”

Spikes is the author of Takeo Spikes Presents: Behind the Mask, which has expanded to a podcast series. The show provides post-game analysis each week throughout the NFL season that features pro athletes and celebrities discussing various topics from relationships to untold personal stories. Spikes attended SEC Media Days as a student-athlete, and the SEC legend is looking forward to experiencing the event in a different way.

“You go from when I was a player and fast forward to now, you see SEC Network and the magnitude of what they bring from a media standpoint,” Spikes noted. “The visibility programs get from being on and part of the network is unmatched.”

The Sandersville, Ga. native was a leader on the field and off during his time in the NFL, serving as team captain 13 out of his 15 seasons and registering 70 or more tackles in 14 of 15 seasons. Recently named as an inductee into the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame, Spikes was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.