TDIF: First NFL Game Without Broadcasters

On this date in football thirty-two years ago, NBC broadcasted the first-ever NFL game without broadcasters.  The executive producer of NBC Sports at the time, Don Ohlmeyer, needed to find a way to attract viewers to a meaningless, season-ending game between the 8-8 Miami Dolphins and the 4-12 New York Jets.  Ohlmeyer always believed announcers talked too much, so his daring decision to eliminate play-by-play announcers and only keep the sounds of the game, were approved. 

In the end, the Jets won the game by a score of  24-17.  Here’s a look back at that historical announcerless game, as originally presented on “History of the NFL on TV.”