FOX Sports CEO and Executive Producer Eric Shanks was over the moon in the aftermath of the Super Bowl night. “The power the NFL has to bring people together was on full display Sunday night and FOX Sports was honored to showcase every moment for football fans across America. From the heart of New Orleans on Bourbon Street, to telling moving stories throughout the broadcast and finally presenting an unmatched game production, we couldn’t be prouder to show that FOX is Football with a Super Bowl viewing audience for the record books,” Shanks said. His words could have been more true as the broadcast broke not one, but quite a few all-time records. Take a look.

• An average 127.7 million viewers watched the Philadelphia Eagles’ 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX which is the new all-time high mark for Super Bowl viewership (up +3% vs. 123.7 million viewers last year), Nielsen reported.
• The Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, starring Kendrick Lamar, drew an average of 133.5 million viewers, the largest ever.
• FOX SUPER BOWL LIX PREGAME coverage averaged 23.4 million viewers from 1:00 PM ET to kick-off which is the best for a Super Bowl pregame starting at 1:00 PM on record.
• A record for the largest Super Bowl streaming audience in history delivering an average minute audience of 14.5 million across Tubi, Telemundo, and NFL Digital properties.

Indeed, with Curt Menefee taking over the main host and legends like Terry Bradshaw, Jay Glazer, Rob Gronkowski, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, and Jimmy Johnson on the main stage, the numbers are not unnatural. But beyond everything technical, something that probably made the broadcast stand out was the emotion attached to it. Say Jimmy Johnson, who literally was in tears during the broadcast. What happened?

Ahead of Super Bowl LIX FOX ran a 4-plus minute video tribute for Johnson that summed up his playing, coaching and broadcasting career. Johnson, a Hall of Fame football coach, has been a cornerstone of Fox’s NFL broadcasts since the network first got football rights in the 90’s. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen that. I’ve gotta thank my family for allowing me the time to accomplish some of those things. And I was blessed ot have great players, great assistant coaches and great friends,” Johnson said fighting back tears. His co-hosts showered him with praise for his incredible life. Now, that looked like goodbye gesture to Johnson who at 81, is the eldest in the squad.

Menefee took the onus to ask exactly that: “Was that goodbye?” Johnson responded by saying, “One day at a time, Curt. One day at a time.” Guess is yours! Meanwhile, the second-eldest of the crew members is no less intriguing about his retirement thoughts. Just days ahead of the Super Bowl the legend with four decades of broadcasting career flirted with the idea saying, “I told my wife before I even left the room awhile ago, I was sitting there and I said, ‘I’ve got two years left at Fox. I’m 76. OK, so It’s a young man’s game. I get that… so I said, if we can get to the next Super Bowl, I’ll be 80. I think that’s time.”

For context, the current Super Bowl broadcasting rights is a four-year rotation between FOX, NBC, ESPN and CBS. That means FOX is scheduled to broadcast its next Super Bowl in Februay 2029. Bradshaw, who went 4-0 in Super Bowls as quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has worked as a pregame analyst for the Big Game 14 times dating back to his time with CBS—including 10 of the 11 Super Bowls broadcast on Fox. But for a 15th stint he would need a contract extension since his present one with FOX has 2 more years.

Taking all these together, it seems likely that there can be quite a few changes in the crew by the time the Super Bowl broadcast returns to FOX. Michael Strahan seemed a little emotional as he took to his Instagram to salute the network’s broadcast. Strahan captured all this in many pictures which he posted on his IG and captioned, “#SuperBowlLIX on @nflonfox. What a time with the fellas. Until next year! 👊🏾💪🏾🏆” Strahan highlighted Bradshaw in his Instagram post, as he included a photo of Bradshaw and him talking things out. Interestingly, the post included a black-and-white photo of Johnson with Stahan. Did that hint at something?

In no time, other crew members also commented on this post about their own experiences. Charissa Thompson commented on the post, writing, “Love you guys.” She even shared an Instagram story referring to this bunch as a family to her. Thompson was also emotional at the end of the Super Bowl, as she was observed hugging only other crew members on the field. She was not alone in the comment area; Erin Andrews also remarked on the post. Andrews stated, “Love these! And love u guys.”

Terry Bradshaw’s retirement and the end of the Super Bowl have genuinely made FOX watchers cry. Michael Strahan also expressed how difficult it was for him to bid farewell to this crew until next year. But do you know that the former DE also disclosed how communicating was difficult for him?

Michael Strahan’s surprising revelation about being booed in an interview

While the former Jets star has become a fan favorite on FOX, it was not always the case. Strahan highlighted during a recent talk with Jameis Winston how difficult it was for him at first. The man said that on his first interview with the models, he failed horribly. Michael referred to himself as garbage on the mic and a man who couldn’t control his spit.

The current Cleveland Browns quarterback, Jameis Winston, spoke with Strahan, who reminisced about one of his initial ventures into the spotlight as a “young cat”. The NFL icon recounted being invited to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit party in his youth, as he said: “Who doesn’t when you’re a 20-something-year-old young man?”

However, his enthusiasm turned to unease when he was handed a microphone and asked to interview models at the event, a task which he humorously admitted did not play to his strengths. The 53-year-old said: “When I got there, they handed me a microphone and asked me to interview the models. I have never seen the footage. I hope that the footage is burned because I was so nervous that I was garbage! You would’ve never thought I’d have a career after that.

Despite this rough start, Strahan went on to carve out a highly successful broadcasting career, quipping about his unique on-air presence as he added: “I’m the only guy on TV that, you know, spits on people when I say the letter ‘S’ with the gap in my teeth, and I can stay employed, so I’ll keep it.” Long story short, morning does not always show the day!