Bob Papa will be the new play-by-play announcer for NFL Network's Thursday Night Football, NFL Network President and CEO Steve Bornstein announced Tuesday. The new team of Papa and analyst Cris Collinsworth will debut on Thursday, November 6 at 8 PM ET when the Cleveland Browns host the Denver Broncos as NFL Network begins its third season of televising an eight-game package of regular-season games.
"Bob is one of the most talented and experienced announcers in the business. We are proud he is joining us as the voice for our Thursday Night Football games," said Bornstein. "Bob and Cris will be an informative and entertaining team to watch on NFL Network's primetime games this fall."
Papa has been calling New York Giants games, including Super Bowls XXXV and XLII, for WFAN and the Giants' radio network since 1995. He also was the lead play-by-play voice for NFL Europa games on NFL Network, including the 2007 World Bowl.
"This is a tremendous opportunity to join NFL Network and call the Thursday night games with the talented Cris Collinsworth," said Papa. "Being the new play-by-play voice on prime-time national NFL games after announcing one of the most exciting games in NFL history, Super Bowl XLII, it doesn't get much better than that."
In addition to calling Thursday Night Football, Papa will also contribute pre and post game reports for NFL Network from New York Giants games, which he will continue to call on radio. He will also write columns for NFL.com and contribute to the internet site with chats and reports.
Papa hosts a weekday morning show, "Opening Drive," on the Sirius NFL Radio channel. He has announced regular-season, Thanksgiving and playoff NFL games for Westwood One Radio. Papa will be working on his seventh Olympic games for NBC and calls boxing on HBO.
Papa is a fixture in the New York market. In addition to his Giants radio duties, during the NFL season he is also the host of FOX's "Giants Access Blue," and WNBC's "Giants Game Plan." He began working for the Giants flagship station in 1988 as the pregame and postgame host of the Giants Radio Network.
In 1992, Papa was named the New York State Associated Press Sportscaster of the Year. He is a graduate of Fordham University, which has also produced legendary broadcaster Vin Scully and many other sports play-by-play announcers.
Mark Loomis is the game producer on Thursday Night Football and Craig Janoff is the game director. Eric Weinberger serves as the executive producer of NFL Network.
NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. For more information, log onto www.nfl.com/nflnetwork. NFL.com is the exclusive internet home of NFL Network.
