The 2020 presidential election is effectively over, but getting to this point has been a long and challenging process that some, including the guy who lost the election, are still unable to accept. One person clearly moving on, however, is large touchscreen enthusiast Steve Kornacki, who became a viral sensation in his own right in the week following election day.
The MSNBC political correspondent is known for excitedly breaking down voting scenarios and election results in real time for days on end as mail-in votes were counted in various states and it was not known who would win the election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. And now he’s taking his skills to another of the network’s properties: pro football.
NBC Sports announced on Thursday that Kornacki will join the broadcast of Sunday Night Football to help break down the expanded playoff picture in what’s been a difficult-to-keep-track-of NFL season. The network said Kornacki will join the broadcast of Chiefs-Broncos at halftime to break down the playoff picture as the NFL reaches its final five weeks.
“Steve captivated millions of viewers during election season and we’re excited that this Sunday he will turn his focus to playoff season,” NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood said in a statement. “As we push to the playoffs, who better to spot the trends, make the call about division and conference races, and identify the toss-up games that can flip the standings than the man in the khakis.”
Kornacki said in the release that he’s a huge football fan and is ready to use the Big Board to talk about NBC’s biggest live sports product.
“I’ve been a fan of the game since I was kid and SNF has been must-see TV for me since it started back in ’06,” said Kornacki. “Truly a thrill to get this chance, especially as the season reaches its most exciting point. I spent the last year using the Big Board to map out all of the various roads to 270 and I can’t wait to put it to use breaking down all of the paths to the playoffs.”
As word spread on social media, Kornacki called it “incredibly exciting” to join the broadcast team and do his thing.
Been a fan for years and it’s incredibly exciting to get a chance to take part in Sunday Night Football https://t.co/tGsRui9b7C
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) December 3, 2020
With an extra wild card spot in each conference this year, there is some uncertainty about how everything will shake out and how seeding will work in the NFL this year. But there’s likely little even Kornacki can do to make whoever wins the NFC East look good, save for maybe convincing that team’s head coach to throw on a pair of his trademark khakis.