Hair Apparant? Clay Matthews To Serve As Super Bowl Pregame Analyst For CBS

CBS Sports Group Chair Sean McManus on Thursday announced that Packers LB Clay Matthews will “serve as a guest analyst for CBS in its coverage of Super Bowl XLVII," according to Bob Wolfley of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. McManus said that the network was “looking for a current player in the league who played on defense to fill one of its two spots as a guest analyst.” He did not announce “who the other player (or coach) will be in that role.” McManus: "Having a defensive player, and a dominant defensive player, give his perspective on the teams and the Super Bowl is really great for us." He added that the network's Super Bowl production team “had a meeting a few weeks ago and talked ‘about a dozen’ players or coaches who could serve in what McManus called a ‘contributing analyst’ role.” Wolfley notes Packers QB Aaron Rodgers last season was a guest analyst on NBC's coverage of Super Bowl XLVI. However, Rodgers on his radio show this week “was asked if he was going to attend any events during Super Bowl week in New Orleans.” He said while laughing, "I can tell you I won't be working for CBS." Rodgers earlier this season “had a quarrel with the way CBS' ‘60 Minutes’ portrayed him in a feature story” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/25).

WHAT'S THE COVERAGE? In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes CBS during its Super Bowl pregame show “won’t dare play party pooper by airing an in-depth report on the wrongful death suit filed Wednesday by the family of former linebacker Junior Seau.” Mixing “harsh reality” with the Harbaugh brothers’ “feel-good story, or the 99th feature on the final day of Ray Lewis’ career, could damage the product.” Raissman writes, “Here is the real reason this story ain’t seeing the light of day: Any legit report on the lawsuit might actually force CBS to examine its role, and the role of the league’s other TV partners, in ‘glorifying violence,’ leaving fans with the impression that monster hits don’t lead to serious health problems down the road” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/25).

LEWIS LOVE: In Jacksonville, Gene Frenette writes contrary to “what ESPN and other network sycophants might believe, everybody doesn't love” Ravens LB Ray Lewis. Especially the “extracurricular sideshow that accompanies No. 52 every time he knows a camera or microphone is nearby.” All the “attention given Lewis' theatrics resembles a stage audition.” Not “surprisingly, he will be in somebody's television booth next season.” Win or lose, the “one good thing about this Super Bowl is it'll be Lewis' last ride.” Frenette: “Hopefully his TV gig won't require him to wear eye black, deliver a sermon or dance on the studio set” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/25).

TUNING IN: In DC, Dan Steinberg reported the 16 regular-season Ravens games “earned a 13.1 average household rating in the D.C. market this season, easily the highest in franchise history.” That figure is “equal to about 309,000 households” in the market (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/23).