NFL Network, ESPN putting up bountiful hours of pre-Super Bowl viewing - Ingles

Cable television's annual pregame Super Bowl binge is underway.

And I wonder how many rabid fans took a refresher course in NFL history when the NFL Network on Saturday night began airing complete chronological replays of games, beginning with Super Bowl VI when Dallas beat Miami 24-3.

The network has scheduled more timely, relevant coverage this week beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday with a replay of the Giants' 17-14 Super Bowl on Feb. 3, 2008, over the Patriots, followed at 6 p.m. Wednesday with a tape of the Giants' 24-20 win at New England on Nov. 6 of this season.

Both the NFL Network and ESPN (TV and radio) boast they will air more than 100 hours — much of it live — before Sunday's game.

And ESPN wants you to know that 19 out of its 25 commentators and reporters have Super Bowl rings, and that Chris Berman is covering his 30th Super Bowl.

The NFL Jan. 22 championship games on Fox and CBS were viewed by more than 53.7 million viewers — the largest playoff audience in 30 years.

NBC (Chargers at Bengals) and CBS (Cowboys at 49ers) drew more than 57 million TV fans in 1982.

This article was written by Dusty Saunders and appeared in the Denver Post.