Nearly 20 years ago, Kevin Burkhardt was selling Chevys in New Jersey and trying to make ends meet with his idle sportscasting career.
He eventually took a hiatus from WCBS and WFAN radio before ending up as a sideline reporter for the Mets for SNY. This led to Fox Sports where he hosted the World Series and their #2 NFL play-by player.
Now Burkhardt is named the #1 voice in Fox’s NFL games, The Post has learned. Burkhardt and Fox are inking a new long-term deal that will see him voice the network’s Super Bowls, sources say.
This means Burkhardt will be on call for two of the next three Super Bowls, including February 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
Fox Sports declined to comment.
Burkhardt replaces Joe Buck. After nearly three decades, including 24 World Series and six Super Bowls, Buck left Fox to join Troy Aikman on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. While Fox wanted to keep Buck — it offered him a new $12 million-a-year contract — the network was confident Burkhardt could be his answer. Now he will be.
Fox selects Kevin Burkhardt to replace Joe Buck on its No. 1 NFL broadcast team. Frank Micelotta/REX
Who Burkhardt will work with on the NFL’s No. 1 team remains to be seen. A front-runner is Greg Olsen. In a well-received rookie year, Olsen teamed with Burkhardt in Fox’s No. 2 team behind Buck and Aikman.
Although Olsen is a front runner, he is not guaranteed the spot as Fox is determined to look at all candidates. According to sources, Tom Brady made advances before Brady returned to football.
Burkhardt, 48, graduated from William Paterson in 1997 with hopes of becoming a sportscaster. Burkhardt spent four years naming minor league baseball and eight years at 1,000-watt WFHT (1500 AM) in New Jersey.
Kevin Burkhardt (l.) was part of Fox’s NFL No. 2 team with Greg Olsen (r.)AP
Around 2004-05 he had his first big break as a part-time updater at WCBS radio. At that time he needed to earn more money and took up the part-time job as a car salesman. His boss at Pine Belt, New Jersey’s Chevy dealership, Mike Trebino, allowed him flexible hours to continue at WCBS.
“He let me work at the dealership to pay the mortgage,” Burkhardt told the Post in 2007.
After seven months of selling cars, then-WFAN program director Eric Spitz ensured Burkhardt was hired full-time by the station. This led to the Mets’ side gig in 2007, where Burkhardt was almost universally popular.
In 2013, Fox Sports hired him, which eventually led to him hosting the World Series. And now Burkhardt is being followed by around 100 million viewers on Super Bowl Sunday.
With Buck gone, Fox also needs a play-by-play replacement for the World Series. Joe Davis is the lead candidate for October’s team with analyst John Smoltz.