Fox Sports' tradition of going to military installations in honor of Veterans Day will include two firsts this weekend.
This week's “Big Noon Kickoff” and “Fox NFL Sunday” pregame shows will originate from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, and the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
This marks the first time Fox's college football pregame show will be part of the coverage. It is also the first time the network has done the show from
multiple military installations.
Fox Sports CEO and Executive Producer Eric Shanks said the expanded coverage was a nice way to cap off America's 250th birthday celebration.
“We've had an incredible year with the baseball All-Star game and the (IndyCar) race in Washington D.C., and we still wanted to celebrate America 250. Bill Richards, our producer said, 'Why don’t we for the first time ever split the show and honor both service academies, because anytime you go to either one of them, they’re obsessed with each other.' And we thought we would bring that to life.”
This will be the second time Fox Sports has been to West Point and Annapolis. The show has also originated from military bases around the world, including Afghanistan.
“Fox NFL Sunday” host Curt Menefee has long said the Veterans Day show is his favorite one of the season.
“It’s easy to be in a place where people are preaching gloom and doom and the other side’s miserable. But when you get there to visit the service academy and you see all these young people from all around the country and you see the quality and the leadership skills that they have and the way they carry themselves. I mean, it continues your faith in America," Menefee said.
The “Big Noon Kickoff” crew of Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, Mark Ingram II, Chris “The Bear” Fallica and Tom Rinaldi will be at West Point and show some of the preparations before Army matchup against Air Force.
The "Fox NFL Sunday' team of Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Rob Gronkowski, Jay Glazer, Charissa Thompson, Charles Woodson and Julian Edelman will be split between the two academies.
Quinn is the son of a Vietnam War veteran and founded the 3rd & Goal Foundation in 2011 to support veterans and their families.
“It’s such a big weekend of college football. I hope we’re able to do everything justice, being there at West Point, honoring the cadets, honoring really what they represent and how they’ll serve this country, but also at the same time doing the best we can to give them a great show,” Quinn said. “Veterans have talked about games they watch when they’re serving overseas and how much it meant to them. So we understand the magnitude of being there and what it means to highlight them and make sure we give them the appreciation they deserve.”
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