Kyle Rudolph to Call Big Ten Games on NBC This Season

The 12-year NFL veteran is taking a significant step towards life after football.

Former Notre Dame and NFL free agent tight end Kyle Rudolph will call Big Ten games for NBC this fall, he told The Athletic earlier this week. 

Rudolph, who spent his college career playing nationally televised home games on NBC with the Irish, will now step into a role calling games as part of the new Big Ten television package with NBC. Rudolph hasn’t officially retired from the NFL, but the step into broadcasting is a good indication that his playing days may be behind him.

Rudolph called Notre Dame’s spring football game in his first official warm-up for his new role. Prior to calling Notre Dame’s Blue-Gold game, he had never called a football game before. 

“I wouldn’t recommend your first broadcast being a spring game,” he said. “It was certainly an experience.”

Rudolph’s connection to Notre Dame is a significant reason why he got an opportunity with NBC this fall, which is a notion that the tight end did not shy away from.

“One hundred percent. It was without question why,” he said. “I’m an anomaly, played 12 years in the NFL before starting my next chapter, but Notre Dame was still there opening doors and giving me opportunities.”

Notre Dame’s long-standing relationship with NBC, which has been the exclusive broadcast partner of the school’s home games for the last three decades, continues to become more and more intricate. The school has negotiations coming up with the network for a new television contract, and the revenue generated from the relationship has been a key reason for the Irish’s ability to remain independent from a conference in football.

As The Athletic details, a new contract with NBC seems likely for Notre Dame, which hired former network executive Pete Bevacqua to become the school’s athletic director when Jack Swarbrick retires in 2024.