Army-Navy Game: Gary Danielson speaks on past, present and future of rivalry ahead of final game with CBS

Army-Navy Game: Gary Danielson speaks on past, present and future of rivalry ahead of final game with CBS originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Gary Danielson recalls his reaction when CBS executives told him he would join the broadcasting team for the Army-Navy game in 2009.

"I don't know if I can do this," Danielson told The Sporting News. "I don't know anything about this. I've never seen an Army-Navy game. I know how important this is to everybody, and I do not want to not give it the justice it deserves. They kind of laughed about it, but I was nervous." 

On Saturday, Danielson will call his 17th and final Army-Navy Game at 3 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday. It's the 75th anniversary of the first broadcast on CBS in 1950 – and this marks the 30th consecutive time the network will have the traditional rivalry on its network. Brad Nessler, Danielson, Jenny Dell and Gene Steratore are the broadcast team for the matchup between the Midshipmen (9-2, 6-1 American) – ranked No. 22 in the AP Poll – and the Black Knights (6-6, 4-5 American). 

Despite that early apprehension, Danielson has become one of the voices synonymous with Army-Navy. Nobody has called the game more times as a play-by-play announcer, color commentator or sideline reporter.  

MORE:Blake Horvath's path to stardom at Navy

Why Gary Danielson loves Army-Navy tradition  

Danielson enjoys telling the story of his first pregame production before the 2009 Army-Navy matchup. He recalls a conversation with a player but won’t reveal which team the player was on—it could have been either side. What was the request?

"He said, 'Please don't grade us on a curve," Danielson said. "Critique us the way you would critique anybody. If we were supposed to make that tackle, call us out. We want to be held to the highest standard. I just thought that was fantastic."

With that, Danielson began to understand the true meaning of the Army-Navy game. It's a traditional matchup between option offenses. Navy leads the FBS with 298.4 rushing yards per game, while Army is fifth at 256.9 rushing yards per game. It took time for Danielson to adjust to the nature of the game.

"I attack this game like no other. It's a lot harder work," Danielson said. "This is not a game about a back-shoulder catch; back-shoulder throw. There is nothing back shoulder about any of these people or anything in this game. This is face to face, physical-intensity football. If you embrace it that way, then it's probably the most-beautiful football you can watch."

Danielson also loves the pageantry and traditions—especially at the end of the game, when the teams take turns singing their alma mater—with the winning team getting the honor to “Sing Second."

"I love the respect for the players and for each other," Danielson said. "This is kind of how we grew up back in the day when I was growing up. All of the competition I had growing up were up against people from the next block or the next county. We all knew each other. We all respected each other and we all wanted to beat each other because of that."

Gary Danielson talks Army-Navy in 2025 and beyond 

Last year, Navy upset No. 22 Army 31-13. Blake Horvath had 204 rushing yards, 107 passing yards and four TDs for the Midshipmen. Now, the Black Knights are looking for payback. 

"I think this game is all about last year's game to tell you the truth," Danielson said. "It's about that disappointing loss, and Navy's win in that game that has really carried over into this game. Navy understands it, and they know Army is going to want to do to Navy what was done to them a year ago." 

As for the future of the game? This is an American Conference game now. The Bucked Up LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk follows Army-Navy at 8 p.m. ET. Potential College Football Playoff expansion could impact the time slot. 

"Having a whole weekend in the prime college football season might be asking a little bit too much in the modern world," Danielson said. "This has meant a lot to Army-Navy, and I think they might understand that something about this game might have to change." 

In the present tense, however, Danielson has always enjoyed this experience. This is the fourth time since 2015 at least one team has been ranked in the matchup. It's not quite the 1940s and 1950s heyday, but that's never what this matchup has been about. 

"I think the game is cool as a stand-alone game, and I hope they can figure out a way to do it," Danielson said. "I think it's good for our country to take a pause and salute people that are willing to sacrifice for everyone else. Maybe the game has to start at 1 o'clock instead of 3 o'clock. Maybe it can be the first game of the playoffs. I don't know. I don't think you can ruin the game, but I think it's awful good where it is right now." 

MORE: What is Army's all-time record against Navy?

Gary Danielson on his final game for CBS 

This will be Danielson's final regular-season game with CBS. Danielson, 74, worked for ESPN and ABC from 1990-2005 before joining CBS in 2006. 

"This game is a very humbling game for me because so many people in this game are so dedicated to everything from SIDs, everybody in there wants to put this game in its best light," Danielson said. "I don't want it at all to be about my last game. We have 70 or 80 to travel to all our games and I bet 50 of the people doing this broadcast have done every game that I've done and they have put just as much into it as I have." 

Danielson said it's the perfect time to step away from his long-time perch as one of the best color commentators in college football. A lot has changed since that first Army-Navy experience in 2009. Yet he'll enjoy that one last time. 

"I love getting there early and watching everything about it," Danielson said. "I've done every big game there is to do. You name a big game and I've done it, but this one. If I could only watch one game in person, then this is the game I would go to."