It’ll be a family reunion at Acrisure Stadium on Christmas Day when the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Kansas City Chiefs, both in the broadcast booth and on the field. Noah and son Ian Eagle will have the call while the game analysts will be Nate Burleson and J.J. Watt, who will join the Eagles in the booth. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported the news.
While J.J. is an analyst for CBS and on its flagship pregame show, The NFL Today, he hasn’t been in the booth to call one of his brother T.J.’s games. Christmas Day will be the first time, and on a day when family is usually the focus, the Watts will be together at Acrisure Stadium.
Both members of the Eagle family aren’t strangers to calling Steelers games. Ian has worked for CBS as an NFL play-by-play broadcaster since 2010, and this season he called Pittsburgh’s Week 6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Noah Eagle called Pittsburgh’s Week 15 win last season over the Cincinnati Bengals, which came just two days before Christmas on Dec. 23. He is also one of the announcers for the Big Ten broadcasts on NBC and will be the lead play-by-play voice for NBC when the network starts its NBA broadcasts next season.
Burleson is a member of The NFL Today with Watt, and he’s also been in the booth with Noah Eagle for the NFL’s Nickelodeon broadcasts. So there’s definitely some familiarity for Netflix’s first-ever Christmas Day broadcast. While Ian Eagle, Burleson and Watt all work for CBS, they’ll be paid by Netflix for the game, Marchand reported. CBS is also producing the game, as Netflix paid the network to handle the production.
The main story, though, will be J.J. calling T.J., who’s once again looking like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and even a potential MVP candidate. He’s following in his brother’s footsteps as one of the elite pass rushers in the NFL, and T.J. will win his fourth single-season sack crown if he can lead the league in QB takedowns this season.
Netflix is also going to add sideline reporters for the broadcast, but they haven’t been announced yet.
