INDIANAPOLIS, IN – DECEMBER 04: A detail view of a Fox Sports logo is seen on a broadcast camera during the Big Ten Championship Game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Michigan Wolverines on December 04, 2021, at Lucas Oil Stadium, in Indianapolis, IL . (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Next week, longtime FOX Sports voice Kevin Burkhardt makes his debut as the network’s leading man for its NFL coverage.
It’s a high-profile job being broadcast into millions of living rooms and calling the NFC Championship and two of the next three Super Bowls. And while the veteran play-by-play man knows that comes with some criticism, he’s not too worried about it.
“[There’s] always somebody who’s going to be sour no matter what I do,” Burkhardt told Deadspin.com. “If they don’t like me, I don’t give a [expletive]. I can’t let it affect how I do my job.”
“I think everybody’s angry about everything,” Burkhardt continued. “Joe Buck is one of the greatest to ever do it, so I never understood the hate he got online. I mean, it’s a subjective business. I’m not naive. I know there are people who don’t like my style, maybe don’t like the way I call a game. That’s fine. You just hope that you do the game justice and you make it an enjoyable experience.”
“Look, everyone wants to be loved, right?” the FOX announcer concluded. “That’s the goal, but at the same time if people on Twitter are going to criticize me then it’s like, ‘You try being on TV uncensored for three-and-a-half hours live.’ There’s no delete button. For everyone who says they could do it better, I don’t go into a hospital and criticize a heart surgeon on his procedure. The odds are they can’t do it better.”
Burkhardt will get his first crack at it when the Packers take on the Vikings Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.
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