Behind the Scenes with FOX's NFL crew: Tom Brady's return to Tampa

By Richie Zyontz
FOX NFL Lead Producer

Editor's Note: Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and is in his 23rd season as the lead producer. He has more than 40 years of experience covering the league and has produced seven Super Bowls. Throughout the 2024 NFL season, he is providing an inside look as FOX's new No. 1 NFL team, including NFL legend Tom Brady, makes its journey toward Super Bowl LIX. Read more behind-the-scenes stories from Richie Zyontz here .

Only Mother Nature could overshadow Tom Brady’s return to Tampa, and through most of last week, that’s exactly what happened.

As Gulf Coast residents evacuated in preparation for Hurricane Helene, the FOX crew strategized how to arrive for Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It takes a village to make a broadcast. And in reacting to a major weather event, it’s often the unheralded parts of the network that move to the forefront. Travel, scheduling, operations, truck drivers — they pave the way for us to slide in to produce and announce these games.

The mobile units, our traveling control rooms, were unable to park at the stadium on Wednesday. That space was needed to stage emergency vehicles for the impending storm. Hotels were shut down, so our travel folks scrambled to find rooms. Canceled flights needed to be rebooked. Yet the obstacles we faced paled in comparison to those faced by Florida residents in general, and the Tampa Bay Bucs in particular.

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Our production call with Baker Mayfield featured cameo appearances by his wife and five-month-old daughter as they were holed up in a hotel, riding out the storm. By Friday, the storm had passed,