CBS announced Friday morning that longtime play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz will miss the NFC South battle. Tom McCarthy, who has been calling select NFL games for CBS since 2014, will replace Nantz and allow the network to avoid a major reshuffle of its other Week 18 broadcast teams.
Why did CBS pull Nantz from the game on such short notice?
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Why Jim Nantz won’t be on CBS broadcast of Buccaneers vs. Panthers
The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t just creating problems for coaches and players. It has also impacted the folks calling the games.
Nantz will miss the Buccaneers vs. Panthers game because of health and safety protocols. CBS didn’t specify whether Nantz had tested positive for COVID-19.
The network encountered a similar issue last year when Romo had to miss a Week 17 game between the Cardinals and Rams because of health and safety protocols. Boomer Esiason replaced Romo as the analyst for that contest.
Who is Tom McCarthy?
In addition to his NFL assignments, McCarthy has been a play-by-play announcer for CBS’s broadcasts of college basketball and football games. He has also called NFL and college basketball games on Westwood One Sports radio.
While he has plenty of experience on the national stage, McCarthy is perhaps best known for being the TV play-by-play voice of the Phillies.
