NBC Broadcast Omits National Anthem Before Bears Game
On November 8, NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast from Soldier Field went from its booth introduction to an interview with Bears quarterback Caleb Williams without showing the national anthem. The game was three days before Veterans Day, during the NFL’s Salute to Service campaign week.
Viewers later saw an aerial shot of the field as flag bearers carried a large folded American flag into a stadium tunnel. NBC aired Carrie Underwood’s “show anthem” and covered the Bears’ trade for defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, but the national anthem was not part of the broadcast.
The choice to include the anthem on a telecast is made by the network, rather than the NFL or an individual team. NBC communications executives Greg Hughes and Chris McCloskey had not responded to questions about the omission by the time of publication. Some viewers raised the absence on social media.
It was not the first anthem-related controversy around a Bears game this season. On September 28, a Chicago mariachi band performed an instrumental version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Bears game as part of the team’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. Reactions to the performance were mixed; Caleb Williams, who was injured, was also shown pacing on the sideline during the anthem.
A Missing Anthem Became a Rorschach Test for Outrage
NBC’s November 8 Sunday Night Football broadcast skipped the national anthem before the Bears game at Soldier Field. The omission came during the NFL’s Salute to Service campaign week and three days before Veterans Day, but the broadcast moved from the booth introduction to a Caleb Williams interview without airing it.
Some viewers complained on social media. The decision to carry the anthem belongs to the network, not the NFL or the team. NBC communications executives Greg Hughes and Chris McCloskey had not responded to questions about the choice by publication.
The broadcast did show flag bearers carrying a folded field-sized American flag toward a stadium tunnel, and it aired Carrie Underwood’s “show anthem.” The Bears’ trade for defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons also received coverage. The gap between those segments and the missing anthem is what viewers were left discussing.
Earlier this season, a mariachi band performed an instrumental anthem at a Bears game during the team’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, drawing mixed reactions. The new controversy shows how quickly a broadcast choice can become a symbolic test—and how the loudest reaction may focus less on what viewers actually saw than on what they believe the omission means.
NBC Leaves the National Anthem Out of Veterans Week Broadcast
NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast omitted the national anthem before the Bears played at Soldier Field on November 8. The choice stood out during the NFL’s Salute to Service campaign week, only three days before Veterans Day, and viewers criticized the absence on social media.
The broadcast opened with the announcers’ introduction and a Caleb Williams interview. It later showed an aerial view as flag bearers carried a folded field-sized American flag into a tunnel, but the anthem itself was not aired. NBC did show Carrie Underwood’s “show anthem” and report on the Bears’ trade for defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.
This was a network decision: the NFL and the team do not generally decide whether the anthem appears on a telecast. NBC executives Greg Hughes and Chris McCloskey had not responded to questions about the omission by publication. The network’s choice, rather than a league policy, is therefore at the center of the criticism.
The Bears had already faced anthem-related debate this season. On September 28, a local mariachi band performed an instrumental version during the team’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, drawing mixed responses. In this case, NBC’s decision to leave the anthem out altogether made its editorial judgment the story.
Reported by Fox News, Daily Mail US.
