The NFL on NBC pregame show The NBC television network ' s pregame / studio coverage for their National Football League coverage has had a rather inconsistent history in comparison to " The NFL Today " on CBS and " Fox NFL Sunday " on the Fox Broadcasting Company . The following is an overview of the various names and formats relating towards NBC Sports ' NFL pregame coverage . History . " GrandStand " ( 1975 – 1976 ) . The first official " NFL on NBC " pregame show was called GrandStand , a program that doubled as a competing sports anthology series to ABC ' s " ABC ' s Wide World of Sports " during the off - season ( " GrandStand " was also a pregame show for NBC ' s " Major League Baseball Game of the Week " during the 1976 season ) . " GrandStand " premiered in 1975 with hosts Jack Buck and Bryant Gumbel ( who joined Buck sometime later in the season ) . Prior to 1975 , NBC would air the public affairs program " Meet the Press " in the NFL pregame show ' s time - slot ( 12 : 30 p . m . ET ) . In 1976 , Jack Buck left " GrandStand " in order to return to the booth for play - by - play ( for NBC ) . Buck was in return , replaced by Lee Leonard , who co - hosted " GrandStand " with Bryant Gumbel . In 1977 , Lee Leonard left and was replaced by Mike Adamle and Regina Haskins as Bryant Gumbel ' s co - hosts . Leonard would later become a co - host of ESPN ' s " SportsCenter " . For the postgame show , " GrandStand " kept the " Sperry NFL Report " , although later incarnations of the postgame show would be renamed the " Budweiser NFL Report " . " NFL " ( 1977 – 1986 ) . In 1977 , NBC dropped the " GrandStand " moniker in favor of NFL plus the corresponding season . For example , NFL ' 77 , NFL ' 78 and so forth . Beginning with NFL ' 80 , NBC would pioneer the use of the in - game highlight ( " Let ' s go to New York for an NFL ' 80 update " ) NBC would use this particular method of titling their pregame show until the 1987 season . Beginning in 1987 , NBC used the title NFL Live ! , for which they would use until the end of the 1994 season . ESPN would also use this titling method for its auto racing coverage from 1979 through 1986 . In 1987 , it became " ESPN SpeedWorld " . Bryant Gumbel would host the " NFL on NBC " pregame show through the 1981 season , when he left NBC Sports for a job on NBC ' s " Today Show " . In his final two seasons on " The NFL on NBC " , Gumbel served as the sole host for the pregame show . Gumbel was subsequently replaced by Len Berman , who was joined by Mike Adamle , Pete Axthelm ( who left following the 1985 season ) , and Ahmad Rashad . In Len Berman ' s second season ( and what turned out to be his final full season ) as the host , Bill Macatee ( who left following the 1984 season ) and Dave Marash ( who left following the 1983 season ) replaced Mike Adamle and Ahmad Rashad . Rashad would return to the pregame show in 1984 and continue onward through the 1988 season . In October 1984 , NBC was also covering the World Series between the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres . Even though one of the games was on a Sunday night , Bob Costas ( who anchored NBC ' s World Series coverage with Len Berman ) was still New York to host " NFL ' 84 " . At the end of the pregame show , Costas said that he was on his way to Detroit to cover that night ' s baseball game . In the meantime , Bill Macatee filled - in for Costas , providing updates and halftime highlights . Costas later interviewed the Tigers in their dressing room that night . In 1985 , NBC moved its Sunday pregame show to 12 : 30 p . m . ET no matter what time that market got a game . CBS followed suit in 1986 . Previously , NBC and CBS would do 1 : 30 p . m . ET and 3 : 30 p . m . ET pregame shows for markets that were only getting 2 or 4 p . m . ET starts . From the mid - to - late 1980s , NBC would to open their NFL pregame show with a Great Games , Great Moments feature , which re - aired an original clip ( i . e . from an NBC telecast as opposed to NFL Films ) of one play from an old NBC game . During the 1986 season , NBC attempted to use a studio audience for the NFL ' 86 telecasts . This would be dropped after the season . " NFL Live ! " ( 1987 – 1994 ) . 1987 – 1989 . By 1987 , Bob Costas had taken over for Len Berman as the studio anchor . During this particular period , Paul Maguire was a part of " NFL Live ! " , which from 1986 - 1987 , only consisted of him , Bob Costas , and Ahmad Rashad . Gayle Gardner would join the team in 1988 . Also in 1988 , Bob Costas ' predecessor , Len Berman would temporarily return to the hosting seat because Costas was away in Seoul to cover that year ' s Summer Olympics for NBC . Gayle Sierens , who made history as the first female play - by - play announcer in NFL history one year earlier , would join Len Berman while Costas , Rashad and Gardner were in Seoul . Also , Paul Maguire briefly returned to " NFL Live ! " ( Maguire left the program for booth work at NBC ) during the Olympics period . 1989 – 1993 . Beginning in 1989 , " NFL Live ! " consisted only of Bob Costas and O . J . Simpson , who was on the show until the end of the 1993 season . Around this particular period ( 1989 to be exact ) , " NFL Live ! " featured the John Tesh composed theme music " Gridiron Dreams " . In 1990 , Will McDonough moved over from CBS ' " NFL Today " program to join " NFL Live ! " McDonough , would leave " NFL Live ! " after the 1993 season to serve as a sideline reporter and host of their " News and Notes " segment . In 1991 , Bill Parcells ( who left after just one season for a role as an in - booth analyst for NBC ) joined the team . Bob Costas held the main hosting position from 1984 through the 1992 season . Costas would continue his involvement with " The NFL on NBC " , albeit in a more limited role such as delivering , pre - taped , intimate , one - on - one interviews . In 1993 , Jim Lampley replaced Costas as the host of " NFL Live ! " Lampley would stay in this particular role for the entire 1993 season before leaving the program in favor of going to the booth for NFL play - by - play work NBC . For the 1993 season , " Gridiron Dreams " was replaced by a composition composed by John Colby . 1994 . From 1994 - 1997 , former CBS , " NFL Today " host Greg Gumbel served as the host alongside Ahmad Rashad . Gumbel ' s predecessor , Jim Lampley moved over to play - by - play work for NFL games on NBC . Meanwhile , a revamped version of John Colby ' s theme music appeared for this season only . Also , during the span of 1993 - 1996 , Mike Ditka was a regular commentator on " NFL Live ! " A year after Mike Ditka ' s arrival , Joe Gibbs joined " NFL Live ! " , who stayed on through the 1997 season . In 1994 and 1995 , NBC ran an hour long edition of their pregame show before Week 1 . In 2003 , six years after NBC lost their NFL rights to CBS , ESPN took the NFL Live ! name for themselves , renaming NFL 2Night ( though forgoing the exclamation point ) . " The NFL on NBC " ( 1995 – 1997 ) . During NBC ' s last three years as the television provider of the American Football Conference ( 1995 - 1997 ) , the pregame show was simply titled The NFL on NBC . The theme music by Randy Edelman was used for both the pregame show and the game coverage . In 1995 , Joe Montana joined " The NFL on NBC " but was gone after just one season . Montana was subsequently replaced by Cris Collinsworth , who stayed on through the 1997 season . Mike Ditka left NBC following the 1996 season to become the head coach of the New Orleans Saints and was replaced by Sam Wyche . NBC Sports Network ( 2014 – ) . NBC Sports Network will begin airing a competing Sunday morning pregame show going against " ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown " in 2014 .