Behind the Scenes with FOX NFL Crew: Silence of the Rams

By Richie Zyontz
FOX NFL Lead Producer

Editor's Note: Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and the lead producer for the last 20 seasons. He has more than 40 years of experience covering the league and has produced six Super Bowls. Throughout the 2022 NFL season, he will provide an inside look as FOX's new No. 1 NFL team makes its journey toward Super Bowl LVII.

Football stadiums have become palaces. 

Modern designs, jaw-dropping video boards, luxurious seating and gourmet quality food all have raised the fan experience to new heights. Nowhere is this more evident than at beautiful SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Built at a cost of $5 billion, SoFi is also a wonderful facility from which to broadcast a game. The announcers have a spacious booth, the lighting is excellent, and our cameras are well-positioned to not only cover the game, but capture the majesty of the stadium itself.

Who’s Who … and Where?

Beautiful stadiums tend to attract beautiful people. 

One of our standard tasks when doing a Rams home game is checking with the team to find out which celebrities are expected to attend. 

Once we receive the list of names, director Rich Russo alerts our camera crew of the celebs' seat locations. During the game, we compile a short video montage of the famous faces in the crowd. It makes the event feel bigger, a real happening.

My favorite SoFi celebrity sighting was Larry David, who looked perfectly miserable during a timeout as the music in the stadium blared at a deafening level. I'm sure the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star had no interest being included in such a montage — but for us, it was gold, Jerry! (You knew the obligatory "Seinfeld" reference was coming.)

Now, I can recognize Leo DiCaprio or Magic Johnson or even Jason Sudeikis on my own.

But for many names on the celebrity list, I defer to the younger guys on the crew such as Rich Gross, Jordan Wolff and Casey Garland. If they say the celeb is legit, he or she makes the montage. 

Chances are, I’ve never heard of them.

Home-Field Disadvantage

While the stadium is magnificent, Rams games at SoFi can take on another odd dimension. With the NFL absent from the L.A. market for 21 years before the Rams returned in 2016, the majority of fans don’t always root for the home team. 

We witnessed that in abundance during last season's NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers. The fans from up north outnumbered Rams fans in numbers and decibels. 

As a result, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was forced to call signals using a "silent count," a strategy usually reserved for the visiting team.

This was especially relevant this week because Dallas Cowboys fans travel well and in large numbers. In preparation for another invasion of visiting fans, the Rams practiced their silent count again with crowd noise pumped in to their workouts throughout the week. 

The Super Bowl champs once again needed to be prepared for a hostile "home" crowd.

Rich Russo and his camera crew were on alert to capturing Stafford at the line of scrimmage, silently gesturing the signals in his home stadium — a very odd circumstance indeed!

All-Access

There’s one member of our crew who truly gets up close and personal with the players. His name is Phil Jacques, and he has been operating a wireless, handheld camera for us the last 12 years.

What makes Phil's responsibilities so unique is his ability to go on the field during changes of possession. With 30 pounds of gear strapped on his back, Phil hustles side by side with the players, providing camera angles reminiscent of a video game.

He remains out there until the team breaks the huddle, remaining as invisible as possible while getting us invaluable pictures.

The NFL approved this access back in 2006, relying on the networks and their camera people not to violate that trust.

Sixteen years later, with Phil at the helm, that trust is still intact.

When the ball is in play, Phil logs about four miles running up and down the sideline following the action.

That strenuous activity proved problematic during Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Phil quietly (quietly as in not telling anyone) pulled a hamstring in the first quarter, yet he didn’t miss a beat. He worked the entire game in the South Florida heat without complaint, doing his usual splendid job.

Phil Jacques is yet another example of what makes our crew so special.

Cowboys silence the Rams

The beautiful stadium held up its part of the bargain … the beautiful people not so much. 

Despite a lengthy list of expected attendees, our cameras only could find a few in the SoFi crowd. So, we decided not to air the short montage we had prepared. Please send my apologies to Magic Johnson.

The Rams also underwhelmed in a 22-10 loss, as Cowboys fans won the battle of the decibel levels. Fans of "America's Team" eventually took over the stadium in the fourth quarter.

It sounded like 60% Dallas rooters when Stafford eventually resorted to using that infamous silent count. But the noise was not the factor we expected. The Rams just weren’t very good as Dallas’ defense spearheaded a suffocating victory.

As the clock was winding down, our bosses in Los Angeles informed us we would be heading to Green Bay next week and not Pittsburgh as expected.

That might have been the best audible called all day!