A year after Bob Costas was conspicuous by his absence from NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl LII, the longtime face of the network’s sports telecasts explained that he was told “you’ve crossed the line” with commentary about the NFL.
“I remember being told that now I can no longer host the Super Bowl,” Costas, who parted amicably with the network after 40 years, told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” “I think the words were, ‘You’ve crossed the line’ and my thought was, ‘What line have I crossed?’ ”
It’s a line that isn’t clearly defined, but the NFL is a ratings behemoth and likes to refer to networks as “broadcast partners.