Yahoo Sports Producer Deb Boulac set to make history on CBS broadcast for rescheduled Bills-Titans matchup
Deb Boulac was always going to lead CBS’s broadcasting crew for the Buffalo Bills-Tennessee Titans game.
Now that the game was delayed to Tuesday due to a COVID-19 outbreak and CBS opted to keep its original crew in place, Boulac is set to make history.
Boulac will be the first woman to ever serve as the lead producer for a prime-time NFL game on Tuesday night, according to The Athletic.
“Honestly, when the schedule first came out and I saw we had this game, I was excited,” Boulac said, via The Athletic. “I was surprised that we were scheduled to do it. But we can go into a game any weekend that is airing to 10 percent of the country and then the game ends with 100 percent of the country watching.
“What it says is that CBS believes in all of us equally and they have confidence that we can do a great broadcast. They never wavered one second. They said, ‘What do we need to do to give you guys the right type of equipment to do this game properly?’ Not one time from my perspective did they indicate they going to change us off this game.”
‘I want to simply do the broadcast justice’
Boulac will lead the crew for the game along with director Chris Svendsen. Tom McCarthy and Jay Feely are set to call the game for CBS, which suddenly has the full attention of the NFL world.
CBS, per The Athletic, added a SkyCam for the game and set up all 12 pylon cameras for her to use at her disposal. They also added sideline reporter AJ Ross and additional support in the broadcast truck.
Boulac was first a lead producer for a Houston Texans-Denver Broncos game in 2018, the first time a woman has done so for an NFL game on CBS since 1988, and has been doing so ever since.
“She is informed and calm, which is extremely important when so much is going on around you,” McCarthy said of Boulac, via The Athletic. “I think her athletic background at Notre Dame, coupled with her football upbringing, gives her a solid foundation to handle everything that comes her way.”
Even though she’ll have plenty of attention on her, and is admittedly a bit nervous, Boulac is more than prepared and ready to go.
“[Everyone at CBS has] been tremendous in helping me be the best producer I can be,” she said, via The Athletic. “They answer my questions. No one’s ever treated me like, ‘She’s a woman, we don’t want to help her.’
“This is a tremendous opportunity and I’m not taking it lightly. I appreciate that. I’m excited. I want people to watch a broadcast where it doesn’t matter who did it. I want to simply do the broadcast justice.”
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