The NFL Today The NFL Today is an American sports series that precedes the American football program " The NFL on CBS " on CBS Sports . The program usually airs at noon ( ET ) on Sundays of the National Football League regular season . The hosts and studio analysts on the program comment on the latest NFL events and make their game predictions . Broadcast history . Dawn of the pregame format ( 1961 – 1974 ) . On September 17 , 1961 , CBS Sports broadcast the first remote 15 - minute pre - game show , the first of its kind on network sports television . Pro Football Kickoff ( with host Johnny Lujack ) originated from NFL stadiums around the country with a comprehensive look at all the day ' s games . This show was succeeded in 1962 and 1963 by NFL Kickoff ( with Kyle Rote hosting ) . During the 1964 season , Frank Gifford began hosting NFL Report , which later that season would be retitled " The NFL Today " . This version of " The NFL Today " was a 15 - minute , regional sports program that presented interviews with National Football League players and coaches , and news and features about the NFL . In 1967 , " The NFL Today " expanded to a 30 - minute format preceding game coverage . On September 20 , 1970 , " The NFL Today " signed industry - pioneering women : Marjorie Margolies , who produced and reported features and actress Carole Howey , who also reported . Margolies would win election to the U . S . House from Pennsylvania in 1992 as Marjorie Margolies - Mezsvinsky . In 1971 , Jack Whitaker and Pat Summerall took over hosting duties on " The NFL Today " from Frank Gifford , who left CBS to call play - by - play on ABC ' s " Monday Night Football " . In 1973 , " The NFL Today " began originating from CBS ' New York studios . It now included reports from stadiums around the country . The program continued to be pre - recorded in advance of game day each week . In 1974 , CBS abandoned the pre - recorded " NFL Today " show and its quickie wrap - up show , Pro Football Report , for a live , wrap - around style show entitled The NFL on CBS . It would start one - half hour before kickoff of either the singleheader or doubleheader telecast ( 12 : 30 , 1 : 30 or 3 : 30 p . m . Eastern Time ) . On September 15 , 1974 , the revamped progam debuted with a new three - segment format : highlights of the day ' s games and commentary , special features shot during the week , and a third segment covering the day ' s sports news , including scores and highlights at halftime . The hosts were Jack Whitaker ( brought into the studio after quite a few years at play - by - play ) and Lee Leonard . The show broke ground in a number of ways : Being live , showing half - time highlights of other CBS games , and then wrapping up as a post - game show . CBS no longer called its stadium studios or its pre - game set CBS Control , but the CBS Sports Center . There would also no longer be a third member of an on - air crew stationed at CBS Control providing scores , halftime info and - time permitting - post - game interviews , a position often held by Dick Stockton during his early days at the network . Musburger and Cross ( 1975 – 1989 ) . The " NFL Today " title was reinstated in 1975 , a year in which it won 13 Emmy Award s , with journalist Brent Musburger ( previously a play - by - play announcer for CBS ) serving as host and former NFL player Irv Cross as analyst , along with former Miss America Phyllis George as one of the reporters . Sports bookie Jimmy Snyder , nicknamed " The Greek " , joined in 1976 . Jack Whitaker also contributed to the program as an occasional reporter and essayist during this period . By this time , the show began the complex process of producing three separate live pregame , halftime and postgame programs for 1 : 00 p . m . and 4 : 00 p . m . games . Also for the first time , signature musical pieces are produced for NFL coverage . 1979 was the first year the Sports Emmy Awards were awarded to sports broadcasts ; among the recipients was " The NFL Today " . Phyllis George was replaced by Miss Ohio USA 1978 Jayne Kennedy from the 1978 to the 1979 NFL season and left the program after the 1983 season . Jimmy Snyder was dismissed by CBS Sports at the end of the 1987 season , one day after making comments about racial differences among NFL players on Martin Luther King , Jr . Day in 1988 . Gumbel and Bradshaw ( 1990 – 1993 ) . After the 1989 NFL season , Musburger was abruptly fired following a power shift at CBS on April 1 , 1990 , while Cross was demoted to the position of game analyst . They were replaced by Greg Gumbel ( former WFAN morning host and brother to Bryant Gumbel ) , famous former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw and longtime sportswriter Lesley Visser , bringing a female reporter back to " The NFL Today " for the first time since Phyllis George went on maternity leave during the 1983 season . After the 1993 season , CBS Sports ' contract with the NFL to transmit NFC games ended , and the NFC rights were passed to Fox Sports . " The NFL Today " had a four - year break along with " The NFL on CBS " from the 1994 to the 1997 NFL season s . Gumbel went over to NBC Sports , Bradshaw to " Fox NFL Sunday " and Visser to " Monday Night Football " on ABC . Gumbel and Visser would eventually return to CBS . CBS reacquires rights ( 1998 – present ) . In 1998 , NBC Sports ' AFC contract expired , and CBS Sports took over the rights to telecast its games . In November 2004 , the NFL signed 6 - year contracts with CBS Sports ( $ 622 . 5 million per year ) and Fox ( $ 712 . 5 million per year ) to continue broadcasting their respective AFC and NFC games from the 2006 to the 2011 seasons . Regular segments . The show includes segments like the " CarQuest Chalk Talk " , in which commentators and program guests discuss team strategies , and " Outside the Huddle " with computer - animated PUNT TV pregame host " Thurston Long " , who makes fun of people around the NFL . He is electronically rendered by animators of Scripted Improv Media , Synergistix Media , and of Viacom ( VIA ) , the publicly traded company that owns CBS itself , and with the help of animators and animation software of face2face , a joint venture of Lucent Technologies and other investors . On June 15 , 2005 , Viacom announced the spin - off its CBS division , which marked the end of " Outside the Huddle " . The commentators of " The NFL Today " also comment on " The NFL on CBS " on game updates , on the " Sprint Halftime Report " and on the " Subway Postgame Show " . At the start of that same 2003 regular season , CBS Sports introduced the new theme song " Posthumus Zone " for " The NFL Today " and for " The NFL on CBS " . The song was made by Los Angeles electronica group E . S . Posthumus , which is so named because it composes songs that have dead ancient cities as a motif . In 2006 , E . S . Posthumus released their second CD , " Rise to Glory " , with the " Posthumus Zone " on it and with a remix of the " Posthumus Zone " called " Rise to Glory " . The song " Rise to Glory " was also featured on " The NFL Today " and on " The NFL on CBS " during the 2005 NFL season . Studio sets . Nowadays , the program usually runs on Sunday at noon , Eastern Time , and lasts one hour . The outdoor studio , which was used during the fall , was set up on Sunday mornings at a plaza in front of the reflecting glass structure of the Apple Store in the General Motors Building , at 767 5th Avenue and 59th Street ( see the at Google Maps ) , next to the southeast corner of Central Park . The winter studio is Studio 43 of the CBS Broadcast Center . However , starting in 2005 , " The NFL Today " was broadcast from Studio 43 all year round . The current studio set for " The NFL Today " debuted the following season ( 2006 ) , the same year the show began broadcasting in HD . Under Jim Nantz . Greg Gumbel came back from NBC Sports to work as the lead play - by - play announcer for " The NFL on CBS " . Jim Nantz became the studio host . Incidentally , during the 1993 season , Jim Nantz filled - in for his predecessor , Greg Gumbel while Gumbel was away covering the American League Championship Series for CBS . During the 1998 NFL season , when the show returned , newcomer Bonnie Bernstein joined the both the show and the network . She only appeared on the show for one season until moving on to the NFL sidelines for the 1999 season . She would eventually returned to the show in 2004 and 2005 . In the meantime there have been eleven studio analysts on the program . The original lineup consisted of Nantz , Marcus Allen , Brent Jones , and George Seifert and did not last past that season . In fact , only Nantz returned to the pregame the next season , being joined by former CBS " College Football Today " studio analyst Craig James , former CBS and NBC color commentator Randy Cross and former Fox analyst Jerry Glanville . During the 2000 NFL season , Lesley Visser returned to CBS Sports / " The NFL Today " after a 6 year hiatus . Visser served as a feature reporter on the show . Visser briefly left the show in 2004 and 2005 as she left to work as the lead reporter for top NFL games . She would eventually return to the show in 2006 as she still continues that role today . The pregame was rebooted again after the 2001 season with Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason joining Nantz , 2000 addition Mike Ditka and 2001 addition Deion Sanders . Sanders left the broadcast team after Super Bowl XXXVIII to return to the NFL , playing 2004 with the Baltimore Ravens . Nantz would follow shortly thereafter , being promoted to lead play - by - play broadcaster . Under Greg Gumbel ( the second time ) . With Nantz moving to the lead broadcast team alongside Phil Simms , Gumbel returned to the studio to replace him . To replace the departed Sanders , Shannon Sharpe joined the team and has been there ever since . During the 2004 NFL season , Bonnie Bernstein took over Lesley Visser ' s spot on the show while taking over Armen Keteyian ' s spot as the lead sideline reporter for the " NFL on CBS " teaming up with Nantz and Simms while Keteyian takes over Bernstein ' s spot on the No . 2 announce team . Those three held their positions for two seasons . This was Bernstein ' s return to " The NFL Today " after five seasons on the sidelines while Visser returned to the sidelines after a brief hiatus of four years . Under James Brown . On February 6 , 2006 , CBS Sports announced the hiring of James Brown , who moved from studio host of " Fox NFL Sunday " to the host of the " The NFL Today " . Greg Gumbel moved back to play - by - play , teaming with Dan Dierdorf on the second team replacing Dick Enberg . During the 2006 NFL season , Lesley Visser returned to " The NFL Today " after a two year hiatus . Visser once again served as Feature Reporter . She continues to hold that position today . Bonnie Bernstein left the network to pursue other broadcasting opportunities . Aside from Visser returning to the show , Sam Ryan joined CBS Sports / " The NFL Today " as she joined the network in June 2006 . Ryan left the network after the 2010 NFL season . In 2007 , CBS added a fifth member to its studio analyst table by adding recently retired coach Bill Cowher . During Week 5 of the 2010 regular season , Spero Dedes filled in for Greg Gumbel for the Kansas City Chiefs vs . Indianapolis Colts matchup and Gumbel filled in for an ill James Brown on " The NFL Today " . " The Super Bowl Today " . The Super Bowl Today is a triennial edition of the " NFL Today " broadcast on Super Bowl Sunday , generally from the site of the game . " The Super Bowl Today " is only broadcast during years when CBS has rights to televise the Super Bowl .