DREW ESOCOFF

“Ijust don’t think they can do it, Dan.” Those were the now infamous last words that NBC Olympics analyst Rowdy Gaines uttered into his headset to his on-air partner Dan Hicks as Frenchman Alain Bernard entered the pool to anchor the men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

A gold medal and a world record seemed all but secured for the dominant French squad when American Jason Lezak dove in seconds later and embarked on what some have called the greatest swimming relay leg of all-time and what is, easily, one of the preeminent U.S. sports-television moments of this century.

Viewers may not have known it, but they had just the man for the moment on their side. The Monday-morning race in China had placed the moment squarely into Sunday-night primetime. Just the night of the week you’d expect the very best from director Drew Esocoff

“Drew has the one trait every great director embodies: he’s always where he should be, when he’s supposed to be there,” said Fred Gaudelli, a 2020-21 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee and Esocoff’s longtime NFL producing partner on both Monday Night Football on ABC and NBC Sunday Night Football. “His shots are always the right shots editorially. He’s not off looking for the most cinematic shot; he’s serving the sports fan and giving them what they need to process what has happened.”

A winner of 19 Emmy Awards, Esocoff’s career has included calling the shots on seven Super Bowls, multiple NBA Finals, years of Triple Crown horse races (including Triple Crown winners in 2015 and 2018), and, in what is perhaps his calling card, 23 years (and counting) of directing primetime NFL, including the past 17 on NBC Sunday Night Football.

“Drew Esocoff should go down in the annals of broadcasting history as the best sports-television director ever,” said Al Michaels, veteran play-by-play man and 2013 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer, who worked with Esocoff for many years on both Monday Night Football and, of course, Sunday Night Football. “If he doesn’t, it’s simply because he never tooted his own horn. All he did was go to work 1,000% prepared, bring his artistry to the table every single time, and gain the love and respect of every person he collaborated with.”

Sports television muscled its way into Drew Esocoff’s life rather aggressively when he was young. After graduating from Colgate University in 1979 with a degree in political science, he landed a job on Wall Street. He was miserable. It took only nine months to pull the plug and dramatically change the direction of his life. He retreated to his hometown of Elizabeth, NJ, to work at a radio station and even took a parttime job at Sports Phone. He also worked weekends as a runner and researcher on college football for ABC.

It was in 1983 when he finally got his first fulltime opportunity in the industry, working on studio shows for ESPN. Taking advantage of available opportunities, he rapidly rose through the ranks and directed episodes of SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight until 1985, when he moved to the live-remote-events division.

He was soon directing everything at ESPN — college football, college hoops, even hockey — before receiving the call to move over to ABC Sports.

At ABC, Esocoff built a reputation for himself as an elite storyteller, an outstanding selector of camera angles, and a humble, easy-going guy to work with. In 2001, at Monday Night Football, Esocoff joined forces with producer Fred Gaudelli to form what would become one of the great producer-director tandems in sports-television history. The two sat at the front bench together for

22 straight years of primetime NFL telecasts, six at ABC on Monday Night Football before migrating to NBC Sports together in 2006 to launch NBC Sunday Night Football.

“Drew is an incredibly important part of what has made Sunday Night Football such a dominant success story,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “His ability as a director and leader has enhanced many NBC Sports events. He is a positive influence on our culture and in sharing his experience to teach others. He also happens to be a Hall of Fame person. It’s a privilege to be his colleague and his friend.”

During Esocoff’s time at Sunday Night Football, the show became one of the most successful properties in sports-media history. It has reigned as primetime TV’s No. 1 show in all key metrics for 11 consecutive years. It has also won the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series a record 11 times.

“There simply is nobody better,” said NBC Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth. “Often, when I plan to talk about someone, that person is on the screen before I utter their name. It is amazing. When big moments happen and it is up to Drew to paint the picture with multiple shots, I have learned the best thing that I can say is nothing. We just let Drew do his thing.”

Esocoff has met the moment every single time, not just for NBC but for the American sports-viewing public. And he has done it all while remaining one of the more beloved behind-the-scenes figures in the business.

“Before I met Drew, I knew his reputation as one of the best directors in television sports,” said Michele Tafoya, the sideline reporter on NBC Sunday Night Football from 2011 to ’21, “but what surprised me when I started working with him was how humble, fun-loving, and unselfish he is. Everyone loves working with Drew because he is collaborative, respectful, and funny.”

“It is an honor to be on the same team as Drew Esocoff,” said NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua. “He is one of the most talented people in our industry, and he is the rare person who can combine endless passion with an amazing and unflinching sense of calm, which sets the tone for all of those that are fortunate enough to work beside him.” – Brandon Costa