Steratore said that he had been speaking informally with CBS NFL production people for yearsGETTY IMAGES
CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus said the recent addition of former NFL referee Gene Steratore as the net's rules analyst came in part because the net will air Super Bowl LIII in February and that "going to a Super Bowl without a rules analyst probably was not a good idea," according to Richard Deitsch of THE ATHLETIC. McManus added Steratore has the "personality, presence and credibility to be a really important member of CBS Sports." Steratore said his new role will provide "opportunities of reacting in real time and you hope you are on point with all the things you are speaking to and communicating about." Steratore: "Hopefully, I can word it and phrase it in a way that adds credibility to what the interpretation or analysis will be." He added, “This job will be to educate the country that has a thirst for knowing a little more about what these guys do to prepare for these games, and to expose a little of the work and effort and the talent to do this.” Deitsch noted CBS had a "rocky run" with former rules analyst Mike Carey, who was hired in '14 but "lasted just one season in the booth after facing an avalanche of social media criticism for his inability to correctly predict" on-field rulings. Steratore said that he had "been speaking informally with CBS NFL production people" for years when the net would air a game he was officiating. He said, “It was something we casually talked about possibly happening in the future." CBS said that Steratore "will be in the studio during the regular season" on Sunday afternoons and will be "on site for CBS’s Thanksgiving Day broadcast as well as the postseason." McManus said that the NFL "did not have any influence or say in the hire." Meanwhile, NBC announced Tuesday that former NFL referee Terry McAulay "had been hired as an on-air rules analyst" for "SNF." NBC Sports Exec Producer Fred Gaudelli also said no one from the league "has ever contacted me about adding a referee” (THEATHLETIC.com, 6/28).
BEST OF LUCK: In Boston, Chad Finn notes Fox in '10 became the first net to have a rules analyst on hand when it hired Mike Pereira, and that has "worked so well it has now officially become a trend." Steratore and McAulay "were respected officials," but "so was Carey, and hiring him was quickly revealed to be a call that should be overturned." The best hope is that "one of them will be able to explain in fewer than a thousand words what constitutes a catch." Finn: "I’m not sure even Pereira can do that now" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/29).
