CBS announcers instructed not to say Broncos' head coach's last name

Foxboro, MA--CBS instructed Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, the first-team announcers for the station's N.F.L. broadcasts, not to say the last name of the Denver Broncos' head coach, John Fox, over the entire course of the telecast on Saturday's divisional playoff matchup between the Patriots and Broncos. CBS executives felt saying the last name would give free publicity to a rival network--FOX. "I was only permitted to say John during the game," said a frustrated Nantz. "It really threw me off, I was uncomfortable. If [the cameramen] showed John Fox on the sideline I could only say, 'And there is the head coach of the Broncos, John.'"