On Oct. 16, 1988, the Indianapolis Colts topped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35–31 in a shootout. For CBS, ex-Los Angeles Rams quarterback Pat Haden handled color commentary... and a young announcer named Jim Nantz handled TV play-by-play duties for the first time.
Five hundred games later, Nantz is still standing. On Sunday, he will call his milestone 500th contest for CBS when the Denver Broncos visit the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wild-card game.
Ahead of Sunday, both the Broncos and Bills presented Nantz with footballs commemorating the occasion. Denver coach Sean Payton and Buffalo coach Sean McDermott were on hand for their teams' respective presentations.
The #Broncos with a game ball for Jim Nantz’s 500th! @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/WCNYQetA53
— Tracy Wolfson (@tracywolfson) January 11, 2025
𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲.
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 10, 2025
Congrats to Jim Nantz on calling his 500th NFL game this Sunday! #DENvsBUF #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/gx0Y6ezIBL
Nantz—considered among the great North American sports announcers—has called the NBA, the NFL, college football, college basketball, golf, tennis, and the Olympics throughout his illustrious career.
He has been the National Sports Media Association's National Sportscaster of the Year five times, and was inducted into that association's Hall of Fame in 2021.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bills, Broncos Present Jim Nantz With Memento Ahead of His Milestone 500th NFL Game.
