John Madden – CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC
Salary: $8 million per year
John Madden, one of the key figures behind the NFL’s legacy, is just about the most recognizable name related to the NFL today. The former NFL player, coach, sportscaster and entrepreneur was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and led the Oakland Raiders to win the 1976 Super Bowl. He also received 16 Emmy Awards and came 2nd in Yahoo! Sports Top 50 All-Time Network Television Sports Announcers list. His lively and unique announcing style caused him to become one of the most beloved and popular sports newscasters of all time. Madden’s biggest commercial success to date is his series of Madden NFL video-games, running since 1988 and published by EA Sports.
The series has been massively successful and had made him a personal profit through licensing his name to the game. Outside of the football scene, Madden has briefly appeared in various films and radio, he’s also known to have a fear of flying and would often ride trains instead of airplanes to get to where he was needed. He owns a customized coach-bus called the Madden Cruiser and uses it to travel and get around the country.
Mike Emrick - NBC
Salary: $300,000 per year
Known by many as "Doc", Mike Emrick is one of the most recognizable voices in hockey and has participated in play-by-play announcing for some of the most important games in the sport's history. With almost 4 decades of experience, Emrick is a highly awarded sportscaster and has received the NHL's Lester Patrick Award in 2014. What's special about this achievement, is that he is the only person to have ever received it for media work rather than participation.
The NHL sportscaster also received 6 national Emmy Awards for excellence in sports broadcasting, with him being the only hockey commentator to have ever received one, much less six. In 2011, Emrick was also the first member of media to have been inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Emrick often commentates with Glenn "Chico" Resch, and the two are referred to by fans as "The Devils' broadcasting pair". Emrick is also known for his many achievements outside of the game, including his incredible vocabulary and having survived a fight with cancer.
Mark Chapman - BBC
Salary: $1 million per year
Mark Chapman (not to be confused with Mark David Chapman who was responsible for John Lennon's death) is a British sportscaster from Rochdale, Lancashire who has been working for the BBC since 1996. Chapman is the presenter of BBC's famous Match of the Day 2 and hosts The Monday Night Club radio show.
Chapman is also a writer and has released two books about soccer. His first book was released in 2010, entitled “Heroes, Hairbands and Hissy Fits: Chappers' History of Modern Football” where he breaks down various critiques of football players, and another book in 2017 titled "The Love of the Game: The Agonies and Ecstasies of Parenting and Sport". The book aims to help parents implement sports in their kids’ lives.
Bill Maas - Fox Sports
Salary: $100,000 per year
As a part-time popular NFL analyst, part-time real-estate broker, and generally an awesome dude, Bill Mass has been making the rounds over the years. Maas started out as a football player and quickly got drafted to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1984. Over-time he became acclaimed for his nose tackle and excellent pass rushing. Maas was also selected twice for the Pro Bowl and even chosen as NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Since retiring in 1998, he has worked as a studio anchor and game analyst for the NFL.
Beyond his work in sports, Maas also did the right thing financially and chose to invest his income in real-estate and gradually build his portfolio. Maas is currently a real estate broker and invests in various rental properties. He is Vice President of the Block & Company, which is based in Kansas City, Missouri. The entrepreneur and retired NFL player got into some legal trouble a decade ago, when he was arrested at a traffic stop in Illinois for drug and weapon possession.
Rodney Harrison - NBC
Salary: $11.5 million per year
Rodney Harrison is one of the commentators on our list that has a less-than-stellar reputation rather than a good one. In 2004, the NFL safety man who played for the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots was voted as the "dirtiest player" in the NFL by his peers, and then again in 2016. Harrison also went on to receive numerous suspensions and fees that ended up accumulating to around $200,000 for various small and explicit fouls.
Despite his sordid reputation, Harrison also achieved many records during his NFL career, from being the all-time leader in career Super Bowl tackles to having the most sacks of any NFL defensive back to this day. Since his retirement, he became an analyst for NBC Sports' Football Night in America. The end of his NFL career was caused by a severe leg injury that occurred when he tore a muscle on the field in 2008.