Behind the Scenes with FOX's NFL crew: Tom Brady's first season culminates in New Orleans with SB LIX

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 eight 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 .

It was W.C. Fields who famously said: "I once spent a year in Philadelphia. I think it was on a Sunday." 

Despite the renowned Fields having been dead for 80 years, his line certainly resonated with me on Super Bowl Sunday as the clock couldn't tick fast enough toward the 5:40 p.m. CT kickoff time between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles at the Superdome in New Orleans.

In fact, the whole week seemed to play out in slow motion despite a whirlwind of activity every day. The enormity of a Super Bowl can mess with your brain — especially if you've been through it before. Tom Brady said during the broadcast, he slept like a baby in the locker room before his first one. And why not? He was just a kid and didn't know what he didn't know. 

But later on, knowing the stakes, he never had a good night's sleep for the next nine. 

Well, I've been to 14 of these babies, and losing sleep comes quite easily. One strategy to combat nerves is to block out everything not in your lane. 

The size and scope of this massive event first hits you upon entering the city-sized television compound brilliantly set up by our operations department. 

For a regular season game, we have a handful of trucks and dozens of crew members we've worked with for