Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Dan Lyons

Football Fans Can’t Get Used to Chris Fowler Calling NFL Games on ESPN

ESPN’s Chris Fowler is best known for his work alongside Kirk Herbstreit on the network’s top college football games every week. Both broadcasters have added some NFL work to their résumés, with Herbstreit calling Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video with Al Michaels, and Fowler taking the occasional extra ESPN assignments not taken by Joe Buck.

Football fans have largely gotten used to hearing Herbstreit every Thursday night. Hearing Fowler call pro football is still a relatively rare experience, however, and it’s jarring for many fans—especially college football diehards.

Fowler is calling Saturday’s sloppy Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers AFC North tilt on ESPN, and hearing his voice in the booth alongside Dan Orlovsky and Lance Riddick has been a unique experience.

Some find it particularly weird for Fowler to be on an NFL assignment just days before he calls the year’s biggest college football game: the Michigan vs. Washington national championship in Houston, as New York Post media reporter Andrew Marchand pointed out:

Ultimately, Fowler’s a pro’s pro, and ESPN probably doesn’t have a more talented announcer available to call today’s game. Most of the reviews do seem to be very positive.

Still, it makes sense that the assignment is weird on the ears for so many fans, with his voice so attached to the college game.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.