A Holmdel resident’s childhood dream of a life in sports evolved into an award-winning career directing them
By Laura D.C. Kolnoski • Photos By Robert Nuzzie
Fox Sports National Football League Lead Director Rich Russo was a student at Pennsylvania State University when his assistant lacrosse coach made a phone call that eventually changed his life. The coach reached out to his friend, CBS sportscaster Brent Musburger’s assistant, on Russo’s behalf. Russo had already scored a position with a New York advertising agency for $12,000 annually, but interviewed at CBS, though no positions were available.
“Four months later, a part-time researcher job opened at CBS Sports paying $50 per day, and I got the call,” Russo recalled. “I would go from my day job to CBS at night, also working weekends.” A full-time entry-level job as a CBS broadcast associate finally materialized, so the young man thanked the advertising agency and moved on. To his great surprise, he was assigned to work with the legendary broadcast team of Pat Summerall and John Madden.
“I said to myself, ‘I better not screw this up,’” Russo said. “Whatever needed to be done, I would do it,” a work ethic instilled in him by his father. “It can make such a difference in any profession. So much of one’s preparation is the ability and willingness to work hard and go the extra mile. I have never forgotten that.”
Russo’s love of sports began in his youth in Massapequa, Long Island, where he played baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and tennis with his older brother until the street lights came on. Lacrosse was big in Massapequa. Russo’s brother played, so, starting in Junior High School, so did he. Russo also played Pop Warner football and high school sports. His father’s company had Knicks and Mets season tickets, so he lived vicariously through his heroes Walt Frazier and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. After high school, he was recruited to play lacrosse for Penn State.
“I thought that maybe someday I could work for a team, a league, a university,” he said. “I thought communications and broadcasting would be a good major, and I minored in business because I thought that sounded good.”
A four-year letterman and the school’s third all-time leading goal scorer in lacrosse, Russo graduated Penn State in 1984, was ranked second in the nation in his junior year in goals scored, and holds the school record for most goals in a game (ten).
This spring, Russo was invited to address high school and college graduates in Holmdel, his present hometown, where he resides with wife Sally, a freelance copywriter, and son Jack and daughter Isabel—both Holmdel High School student athletes. His young audience listened in rapt attention.
“I told them two things that are so important: having a passion for something and the ability to work really, really hard,” he said. In his early days at CBS, observing and emulating his mentors in front of and behind the camera inspired Russo to become a director. He was assigned to work all sports that CBS acquired broadcast rights to, including college football, the NBA, NCAA Basketball, the 1992 and 1994 Olympics, U.S. Open Tennis, and the PGA.
Moving to Fox
In 1994, FOX outbid CBS for the NFC football package and got the rights to the NFL. The fledgling sports division needed experienced personnel, and among those who switched from CBS to Fox was the Madden/Summerall crew.
“Having John and Pat gave Fox instant credibility,” explained Russo. “I made the jump in 1995 and was back working with them as associate director. Fox started purchasing other sports rights—hockey, NASCAR, baseball, college football…basketball. I got opportunities to direct, which was a dream come true.” After directing three college football National Championships, he was promoted to the lead NFL crew in 2009, joining announcers Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Erin
Andrews.
Russo is now a veteran director with 11 Emmy Awards for various sports broadcasts he directed. He has helmed Super Bowls viewed in 234 countries and by U.S. Armed Forces around the world, the last seven NFC Championship games, the World Bowl, college bowl games, The Final Four, and more.
“There is a great sense of excitement that comes with directing a live sporting event; it’s the next best thing to playing,” Russo said. “It is unscripted, so you must be instinctive and react quickly. It’s chaotic but I call it organized chaos. It’s important to stay calm and focused because that affects the entire crew.” Listening skills, pacing, and patience, he added, are critical to ensure camera shots match the commentary and that everyone is always ready for the next shot.
Some 100 people are involved in a telecast on “any given Sunday,” Russo said. “One breakdown can lead to a mistake that millions will see. In sports, there are no second takes. Inclement weather can impair equipment, and so there is much thinking on the fly.”
To bring the viewer closer to the action, Russo said Fox devised the continuous score and the yellow line (electronic first down line) in football. Keeping up with technology is important, he said, but so is not letting it get in the way. He does, however, revel in today’s larger camera lenses that can capture the emotion on players’ faces. During golf broadcasts, Protracer Range ball tracking allows the viewer a better idea of the direction of the ball, and in football, 4K cameras can zoom in to see if a player’s feet are in or out of bounds.
An Anecdote-Filled Career
Russo’s many memorable experiences include one several years ago when the Giants were playing the Cowboys at Met Life Stadium. The production truck’s lights and power failed mid-game, followed by the stadium’s power. The teams stopped play.
“We threw to the studio,” Russo said. “Finally the lights started coming back and the players were getting ready. Only problem was our truck didn’t have power. We finally got it back as Eli Manning was coming to the line to resume play.
He threw a short incomplete pass nobody saw.”
The director interacts with countless professional athletes, coaches, announcers, and other personalities—Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Tom Coughlin, Terry Bradshaw, Dick Stockton, and Hubie Brown among them. He refers to Madden and Summerall as, “arguably the greatest broadcast team ever on sports television. Madden was a passionate teacher. I would sit in film sessions with them and listen to John teach the crew the game of football, and how they could translate how he saw the game to television. Pat was one of the nicest men I had the chance to work with; an unbelievable play-by-play guy who had incredible stories that he loved to share. His voice was the NFL.”
Russo was also associate director of hockey during the 1992 and 1994 Olympics for CBS in Albertville, France and Lillehammer, Norway respectively.
“In ’92 we stayed in Meribel, a quaint, beautiful town where the hockey venue was,” Russo reminisced. “Mixing with the locals made it very memorable and the food was outstanding. We got to know the athletes and their families, realizing how important is was for these great players to represent their country. We were proud to document their journey.” Russo came home with a “priceless” goalie stick that the goaltender’s father gave him, one bearing all the players’ autographs.
The director also has fond memories of covering the Final Four and NCAA Basketball Tournament in his CBS days, which he called, “an incredible event.” He was also the associate director for the
Duke versus Kentucky 1992 East Regional sat the Spectrum in Philadelphia.
“When Christian Laettner hit the buzzer beater I knew this would go down as one of the greatest games in college basketball history,” he said. “The emotions and seeing the college kids playing their hearts out was amazing.”
Fall forecast
Russo will be directing Super Bowl LI in Houston, his third as director and 14th overall. Two site surveys have already been completed there. The professional and his team will be televising a preseason game in August as further preparation.
“It doesn’t get any bigger,” he said. “You can’t think about how many people are watching. As the teams come down the tunnel and enter the field, the adrenaline kicks in for all of us, but when the game starts, you have to focus on broadcasting another football game. We must ensure we capture all the right reaction shots, that the broadcast has the right pacing, and that the pictures match Joe, Troy, and Erin’s commentary. They are all very talented, which makes my job easier.”
Covering the Super Bowl requires some 55 cameras and 350-400 personnel. The National Anthem singer, the coin toss, and team introductions are all rehearsed the Friday before the game. A high school team is brought in to run plays for camera checks. For Super Bowl XLVIII at Met Life Stadium, the Holmdel High School team had the privilege.
“The entire crew is like a second family during football season,” the director said. “We spend about 22 weekends together preparing for Sunday game days. There are times when I have to keep telling myself how lucky I am to be in this position.” Russo also feels fortunate to live in Holmdel. He and Sally, a New Jersey native, decided to relocate to suburbia when they became parents.
“Holmdel’s school system has an excellent reputation and we wanted to be close to the beach,” he said. “We have met wonderful people and love the township immensely.”
Russo also continues the charity work he started with the Special Olympics in college. He supports cancer awareness and the Hope for Children Foundation, a non-profit co-founded by his friend, Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds. To stay in shape, he runs and plays basketball and golf when he’s not attending his kids’ sporting events.
“Being part of an incredible team and working with such talented and respected people has made this job more fun than I could have imagined,” he said. “The indelible images in sports can last a lifetime.
