A weekly staple of an NFL Sunday is the CBS Halftime Show, but who are the commentators that make up the panel each week? Who are those now-familiar faces that break down the action each and every Sunday of the football season?
Who Are the CBS NFL Halftime Commentators in 2023?
The CBS NFL halftime commentators have changed a number of times over the past couple of decades. However, for the past few seasons, the group has remained largely intact. James Brown fills the role of host, while Phil Simms, Nate Burleson, Boomer Esiason, and Bill Cowher serve in the analyst positions.
Let’s take a brief dive into each of the five personalities who appear on the NFL Today Halftime Show on CBS.
James Brown | Host Since 2006
Brown, affectionately dubbed “J.B.” by his fellow crew, graduated from Harvard University with a degree in American Government, where he played basketball and captained the team during his senior year. Following a brief stint attempting to make it in the NBA, Brown entered corporate America, where he worked until the mid-1980s. He joined CBS as a broadcaster in 1984, originally working on NBA content.
Brown began calling NBA and NFL games as a play-by-play announcer in 1987. In the early-1990s, Brown worked as a sideline reporter for the NBA Finals and MLB National League Championship Series and as a studio host for the 1992 Winter Olympics. In 1994, he moved to FOX to host the company’s NFL pregame show and its FOX NHL Saturday show. In 2006, Brown returned to CBS, where he’s been a mainstay on the company’s NFL coverage in a variety of roles.
Phil Simms | Studio Analyst Since 2017
Simms, 66, is a two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback who spent all 15 seasons of his NFL career with the New York Giants. He was also named to the Pro Bowl twice (1985 and 1993). Following his illustrious playing career, Simms was inducted into the New York Giants Ring of Honor, and the team retired the No. 11 jersey in his honor.
Simms has had a winding career as a broadcaster. He first worked at ESPN in 1994 before joining NBC’s NFL broadcasting crew. At NBC, he went on to announce weightlifting competitions at the 1996 Summer Olympics and worked as a sideline reporter during NBA games. Simms then transferred to CBS in 1998 and has remained with the company ever since. During his time at CBS, he’s worked as a color commentator alongside Greg Gumbel and Jim Nantz and as an analyst on several NFL-related broadcasts.
Nate Burleson | Studio Analyst Since 2017
Burleson, a former NFL wide receiver, was selected in the 2003 NFL Draft and played in the NFL for 11 years with the Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks, and Minnesota Vikings. In 2012, he attended a Broadcast Boot Camp organized by the NFL and began working as an analyst with NFL Network in 2014. When NFL Network launched Good Morning Football (GMFB) in 2016, Burleson was selected as part of the inaugural cast alongside Kay Adams, Kyle Brandt, and Peter Schrager.
Burleson joined the NFL on CBS team in 2017 while retaining his co-host duties on GMFB. Burleson also served as the color commentator for the NFL Nickelodeon Wild Card games in 2021 and 2022. He joined CBS Mornings as a co-anchor in 2021 and became the host of Nickelodeon’s weekly highlight show. Due to his increased commitments to CBS, he recently left the cast of GMFB. Burleson has won two Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Analyst (2021 and 2022).
Boomer Esiason | Studio Analyst Since 2002
Esiason began his NFL career as a second-round selection in the 1984 NFL Draft out of Maryland. He played for 14 years with the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals, but is most well-known for his nine-season stint in Cincinnati (1984-1992). In 1988, Esiason was voted the NFL MVP and led the Bengals to the Super Bowl — which they lost 20-16 to the San Francisco 49ers.
Esiason has taken on a wide range of media and broadcasting roles since his playing career. In terms of television and film, he’s appeared in dozens of commercials, plus TV shows and movies such as Blue Bloods, Spin City, and The Game Plan. He also co-hosted the Miss America Pageant in 1998.
On the broadcasting side, Esiason appeared as a color analyst for USA Network’s broadcast of the World League of American Football for two seasons. He then joined ABC as a color commentator for Monday Night Football in the late-1990s. Esiason holds a record for broadcasting the most Super Bowls (19), as he was the lead analyst for radio broadcasts on the Westwood One radio network for every Super Bowl matchup from 2000-2018.
He now works for CBS in a variety of NFL-related capacities, including on The NFL Today, Inside the NFL, and a radio show titled Boomer and Gio, the last of which is broadcast on the CBS Sports Network and WFAN Radio.
Bill Cowher | Studio Analyst Since 2007
Cowher played four years in the NFL between 1980-1984 before becoming one of the most successful NFL coaches in recent memory. Cowher spent 18 years as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, leading the team to the playoffs 10 times and winning the Super Bowl in 2005. Cowher was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.
Following his retirement as the Steelers’ head coach in 2007, Cowher joined the NFL on CBS team, where he’s remained ever since. On the show, he’s often referred to as “coach.”
Who Else Appears as Part of the CBS NFL Halftime Commentators?
This year, J.J. Watt will be making appearances throughout the season. He signed a multiyear deal with CBS Sports to serve as an NFL studio analyst this summer. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year announced his retirement last December. He had 114.5 career sacks in 12 seasons with the Texans and Cardinals. Watt won Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2017.
CBS reporter Jonathan Jones will appear on the show as Lead NFL Insider.
Historically, commentators on the NFL CBS Halftime Show included Tony Gonzalez, Bart Scott, Shannon Sharpe, Dan Marino, Deion Sanders, Mike Ditka, Jim Nantz, Terry Bradshaw, and Brent Musburger.