NBC Announces 'Sunday Night Football' Broadcast Team for 2022 NFL Season

By Brian Jones

Sunday Night Football will look different this fall. On Tuesday, NBC Sports announced the broadcast team for Sunday Night Football for the 2022 NFL season and there will be a new play-by-play announcer and sideline reporter. Mike Trico will call the plays and takes over for Al Michaels. Cris Collinsworth returns to be the analyst, and Melissa Stark takes over for Michele Tafoya on the sidelines. The team will call their first game on Aug. 4, which will be the Pro Football Hall of Fame game. The first regular-season game the team will call will be on Sept. 8. 

"Sunday Night Football is destination viewing and we are thrilled to have Mike, Cris and Melissa call the action and tell the stories that football fans have come to expect from primetime TV's #1 show," Pete Bevacqua, NBC Sports Chairman, said in a press release. The reason for the changes is Michaels left NBC to call NFL games for Amazon Prime, the new home of Thursday Night Football. Tafoya left NBC at the end of the 2021 season to pursue other opportunities. 

Tirico is no stranger to calling NFL games on the primetime slot as he's been doing it for 17 consecutive seasons. He has worked 21 games with Collinsworth when he filled in for Michaels. Tirico recently served as the on-site and studio host of NBC'S Football Night in America and is one of only four play-by-play announcers to work the primetime NFL package for at least 10 seasons. 

Stark joins NBC Sports after spending the last 10 years as a host and report for the NFL Network. From 2000 to 2002, Stark spent three seasons as a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football when it was on ABC. Following her stint on Monday Night Football, Stark spent four years (2003-07) with NBC News, serving as a national correspondent and newsreader on the TODAY show. She also spent time on ESPN and worked three Olympics with NBC Sports.

Collinsworth is entering his 14th season with Sunday Night Football. He previously calls games on the NFL Network from 2006 to 2008, Fox from 2002 to 2004 and NBC from 1990 to 1995. In his career, Collinsworth has won 16 Sports Emmys and is also the major owner of Pro Football Focus. He also played in the NFL, spending eight seasons as a wide receiver with the Cincinnati Bengals (1981-1988). 

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