Why Sunday's Rams-Ravens NFL game is a milestone for this Delaware resident
Artie Kempner is the quarterback whom NFL fans do not see.
But everything he does affects the outcome of their TV viewing experience.
Kempner calls signals from a FOX Sports production truck where he serves as director of network telecasts. Nobody is running after him or into him to thwart his efforts, but he also has little time to make key decisions at the height of the moment.
“It’s really just an energizing experience every time I sit in that truck,” he said.
Sunday’s Rams-Ravens game in Baltimore is the Wilmington resident’s 650th as director, a number reached by only one person before him, former colleague Sandy Grossman, according to FOX Sports.
Kempner discussed that milestone, why he loves his job despite its challenges and another cause dear to his heart this week:
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Meaningful achievement
Kempner, now 64, directed his first NFL game on Oct. 7, 1990, a 14-10 Cowboys win over Tampa Bay in Dallas.
Thirty-four seasons later, he’ll work No. 650.
“I feel so fortunate that I’ve been able to do something for a long time and, most importantly, to do it with really great people,” he said. “Every week I go into the game knowing that I have the best resources and the best support. And it really always just makes me happy to sit in that director’s chair and work with all these great people.”
Kempner played football himself at John F. Kennedy High on Long Island and the University of Florida. He is now an assistant coach at Wilmington Friends School, which he lauded with an in-game clip last season the day after the Quakers won the DIAA Class 2A championship.
“The significance is that I love this game,” he said, “and to have this opportunity for that long is a big deal to me.”
The QB in that truck
Kempner is the maestro during each telecast, watching a wall of screens delivering the views from 14 cameras at a typical NFL game while flanked by longtime producer Pete Macheska.
It’s quite a juggling act as he must determine, in an instant, which is the one viewers will see on their screens.
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That’s a lot of split-second decisions and it begins with preparation and knowing what to expect.
“We go into the game with an overview, like a game plan that we made,” Kempner said of an effort that includes the announcers, camera operators, audio and replay experts and other personnel. “But we always know that the game is going to dictate how we cover things.”
That plan must be adjusted because of what occurs on the field.
Just like the Saints, Kempner and his crew didn’t expect the Lions to grab a quick 21-0 lead in last Sunday’s game in New Orleans. That means altering the emphasis on what to show viewers, such as more shots of stunned Saints or reveling Lions.
“The most important thing for us is we want to bring them closer to the action, closer to the game,” Kempner said. “We want to tell them why things work. And then we'd like to wow them with great pictures.”
Wins and losses
Kempner comes out of every telecast feeling like it’s a win, which is almost always the case, or a loss. He’ll share why, in criticisms and compliments, with his team the next day.
As thrilled as he was with what he thought was “a really good broadcast” from the Caesars Superdome last week, there were still regrets. FOX missed one Detroit snap when quarterback Jared Goff hustled to the line of scrimmage when the Lions upped the tempo.
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“That was so aggravating,” he said.
It’s three action-packed hours that Kempner calls “controlled chaos.”
“People kind of know where I’m going,” Kempner said, “based on if the player is going left to right, if it’s the far side of the field or the near side of the field, who made the play, who caught the ball, who ran with it, who made the tackle. You get your camera people all on the same page and now it’s really more selecting and directing.”
Super Bowl experience
Kempner has worked 10 Super Bowls and been the director for two. His most satisfying experience was directing Super Bowl 42 in Glendale, Arizona, in 2008 when the Giants stunned the previously unbeaten Patriots 17-14.
“That was a game where I probably had 38 cameras,” Kempner said. “All 38 people were spectacular at their job. ... It’s like we’re playing football and every game is 11 versus 11. We’re now going to make it 17 on 17.”
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So many viewing angles did make his job more difficult but it allowed FOX to capture one of the signature moments in Super Bowl history – David Tyree’s tumbling one-handed catch against his helmet of Eli Manning’s 32-yard, third-down pass on the Giants’ game-winning drive.
When the NFL season ends, Kempner moves right to NASCAR as director of FOX Sports telecasts beginning with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 and including the Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway on April 28.
Autism efforts No. 1 to Kempner
Kempner’s middle of three sons, 28-year-old Ethan, has autism.
That spurred his involvement in the creation of Autism Delaware in 1998. Kempner is now on its board of directors.
“We’ve grown from having no staff for the first four years,” he said, “to having one staff person for two years to now employing over 100 people and we serve 185 adults every day with our programs.
“I’m really proud of my career in television. But I’m probably most proud of what a group of people here in Delaware have done to really change the way the autism community is served and to give people and their families the best opportunity to really thrive in the community.”
Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: FOX Sports director Artie Kempner works 650th NFL game in Rams-Ravens
