Albert to announce NFL games for CBS

Marv Albert will join CBS as an NFL play-by-play man for the coming season -- if there is one -- the network announced Monday.

The idea, he said, "came out of nowhere" during the NCAA basketball tournament, in which his calls appeared on CBS as part of its new partnership with Turner Sports for that event.

CBS proposed furthering Albert's relationship with the network by having him add the NFL to his job as TNT's lead NBA play-by-play man.

"This to me is the best possible setup," said Albert, who when both sports are in season will call NBA games on Thursdays and the NFL on Sundays.

To clear sufficient time in his schedule, he no longer will call Nets games for YES after doing so since 2005. He already had cut back to about 25 games per season, with Ian Eagle working 50 or so.

YES said it is "exploring our various options" for announcers. "I was looking forward to the Brooklyn move [in 2012]," said Albert, who grew up in the borough. "But I just couldn't do it."

Albert called NFL games for Westwood One radio from 2002-09, but he has not called the sport on TV since NBC's final season with the AFC package in 1997. He said football is his second-favorite sport to call after basketball.

Jim Nantz is expected to stay on CBS' No. 1 team with Phil Simms. CBS did not say which analyst it will pair with Albert, who said he has been promised "significant games," nor specify his place on the depth chart.

"I know it sounds like an athlete answer,'' Albert said, "but I'm just very happy to be part of it, I really am."