Curt Menefee: From Coe College to biggest TV stage

It's the most-watched television show of the year by far, it's Sunday, and it will be manned by someone who cut his TV teeth in Cedar Rapids.

Curt Menefee, Coe College Class of 1987, will be the self-described 'point guard' for the 4 ½-hour pregame show, the halftime show, and the postgame show of Fox's Super Bowl television coverage, starting Sunday at 1 p.m.

All those millions and millions of eyeballs and eardrums will be on Menefee, but he says it doesn't unnerve him.

'Knock on wood, I don't get nervous,' he said in a recent phone interview. 'For me, being on live television is not something that's unusual. It's what I've been doing since I was 19 years old at KCRG.'

Menefee left Atlanta to attend Coe on the recommendation of then-CNN sportscaster Fred Hickman, a Coe alum. The school had no journalism or communication program. Interested in broadcasting, Menefee tried to hook on at the area's television stations.

John Campbell brought him aboard as an unpaid unofficial intern of sorts at KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids. With sports director Campbell mentoring him, Menefee soon was working five days a week shooting video and reporting.

Menefee graduated from Coe in 1987 (he was the school's commencement speaker in 2010), and away he went to several TV markets before joining Fox Sports. Here he is at age 50, the studio host of Fox NFL Sunday for 11 years and about to shepherd his fourth Super Bowl telecast.

'The length of the day doesn't freak me out,' Menefee said. 'It would be hard for me to not have energy on a day like that. But for me, it's another day.'

Menefee is on a set with Terry Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long and Michael Strahan. 'I react to what I see live,' Menefee said. 'No one else has that responsibility. Their responsibility is to respond to me.

'A big part of it for me is knowing each guy's strengths, weaknesses, personalities, what they're comfortable with. It's like being a basketball team's point guard. I have the ball in my hands, and I'm trying to distribute it to the right guy at the right time with the right question and the right phrasing.'

The continuity of the Fox NFL Sunday team has been a key to their popularity. Bradshaw and Long have been part of the crew since Fox got NFL rights 23 years ago. Johnson has been part of it for all but the four years in which he coached the Miami Dolphins. In this case, familiarity hasn't bred contempt.

'There's an energy and freshness to it,' Menefee said. 'Our show's been number one every year for 23 years and the margin keeps increasing. I think it's because we're always evolving with fresh energy.

'Who you see is who we are. We all like each other. There's a certain pleasure that comes with time. People enjoy seeing friends having a good time.'

Menefee became an author last year when he got a book called 'Losing Isn't Everything — The Untold Stories and Hidden Lessons Behind the Toughest Losses in Sports History' published by HarperCollins.

'Everybody knows what happens to the winners,' Menefee said. 'They go to the Hall of Fame, they get commercials, notoriety. But for some who lose on the biggest stages, it's devastating. Others keep it in perspective.

'I always wondered why some were able to move on and others weren't. I honestly believe everything you need to learn about life can be learned from sports, from facing adversity to using teamwork.'

And here's something for the football hard-cores to keep in mind:

'No one ever told me 'Great job breaking down the Cover 2 last week,' even though we do that stuff,' Menefee said.

'But people always tell me they love how you guys have fun and get along. It's information with entertainment. People enjoy enjoyment.'

So enjoy Sunday's big broadcast, everybody. Menefee will.