Bob Papa Is Way Better Than Bryant Gumbel

In just one half of football in the 2008 season, the NFL Network has improved its play-by-play calls dramatically over the last two seasons. Bryant Gumbel was just plain horrible. He tried to maintain a conversation with analyst Cris Collinsworth and that failed miserably.

When Bryant Gumbel was dropped earlier this year, I was hoping that Tom Hammond would be named as his successor.

But in June, the NFL Network decided to tap New York Giants radio caller Bob Papa and it was greeted rather warmly.

With one half finished, Papa is way better than Gumbel. He knows the flow of the game and allows Collinsworth to get his opinions in.

I've liked him since he started play-by-play of the Giants in the early 1990's and has done a handful of TV games for NBC.

Bob's a very good play-by-play man and it's been showing tonight. There have been several glitches in production, but that is hardly Bob's fault. So far, so good for the NFL Network talent-wise.