NFL Sideline Reporter Olivia Harlan Dekker on Creating Super Bowl History With Dad Kevin Harlan
Q&A
Olivia Harlan Dekker is ready to make history at Super Bowl Super LVIII in Las Vegas. She’ll be reporting from the sidelines during the big game for UK-based Sky Sports while her father, legendary play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan, will be broadcasting for Westwood One. It’s the first time ever a father and daughter duo are covering and calling a Super Bowl.
This milestone is not lost on Harlan Decker, who built a career all her own, with credits including the NFL and NBA presenting for ESPN, CBS, and Fox Sports. The business runs through her veins because of not only her dad but her grandfather who also served as lead exec for the Green Bay Packers.
We caught up with Harlan Dekker as she gave us her Super Bowl prediction and geared up for the big game.
Do you remember the first time you realized what your dad does for a living?
Olivia: It had to be whenever he was in town doing an NFL game. We live in Kansas City, but he was a network reporter. So every weekend he would do a different game somewhere. It really sunk in when he was in town doing the Chiefs because we would go to the game. We would go on the field. We’d go in the press box with him and the production truck. We’d see all the inner workings of the broadcast.
Otherwise, we would just turn on the TV to watch him on Sunday calling an NFL game. The same for the NBA. He has been doing that forever with Turner. Kansas City doesn’t have an NBA team, so we didn’t get to do it for those games in town, but we did get to go to the NBA All-Star Game every year. The All-Star Game is a celebrity-riddled fest. It is so over-the-top, so as a kid, you’re very aware of how cool that is. We have so many stories. I think it was a mix of the Chiefs games and seeing how diligent this whole production was and going to the All-Star game. We would have stars in our eyes. That all made us come to the conclusion that, “Wow, Dad has a really cool job.”
Olivia Harlan Dekker
Who were some of those celebrities you interacted with?
Jack Nicholson, we sat next to him once during the NBA All-Star game. Brittany Murphy and Ashton Kutcher were the hottest celebrity couple of the time. They were sitting next to us. I think my sister went to the bathroom with Brittany. Lil’ Bow Wow was another. You see that time period-wise. This was really cool in the early 2000s. We had Tiger Woods. I also have pictures of when I was eight with Shaquille O’Neil, who I’ve ended up working together with in some capacity in the industry. I showed him the picture saying, “You remember this? That little kid with the bangs and the big buck teeth. That’s me.” It’s hilarious. Every NBA player. Reggie Miller has worked together with my dad for a long time. We consider him a friend. Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant, all of them.
What made you want to follow in your dad’s footsteps?
I think it’s because I respected what he did so much that I so badly wanted to do it as well. I wanted it to be our thing together because we are very close. I had such admiration for not only the work he did but how he did it. And there is no way around it. It’s a really cool profession. When I would go to school my teachers would always ask where my dad was that weekend. My soccer coach, and other parents.
Everyone was very interested in what Dad did. I was so drawn to the profession when I saw it in action. During the Chiefs home games where I got to go on the field, see the production truck, and see how much it took to put the game on the air. I found it fascinating. I truly think if I didn’t go on air, I would still have been interested in some production element, especially with the NFL and the weight the NFL carries in America and the way people care and are passionate. I feel I would still want that piece of the pie. I also love television. I love the industry, that I would have found something to do had on-air not worked out.
Olivia Harlan Dekker
So this is your first Super Bowl?
First one. I’ll be on the sidelines for Sky Sports, so I’m thrilled about that. I worked Super Bowl week for BetMGM doing build-up, hosting live shows, and interviewing former players. I felt like I’d been there, but this is actually the first time I’m really working. We’ve been to plenty of Super Bowls because my dad has done so many. We ended up going as a family, but this is the first time working it. It’s also not too shabby my hometown team is in it too.
Does this feel like a full-circle moment?
What’s cool is this year I’ve gotten to cover the Chiefs over in Frankfurt, Germany, Dolphins versus Chiefs. Then I had the Dolphins versus Chiefs in the Wild Card Round. I’ve already had them twice. So it’s wonderful I get them a third time. By now I think I know them so well. I end up covering them a bit every season. I feel like I have a good pulse on them. With my dad, it’s a total bucket list thing. A dream. If I retired without covering a Super Bowl, I would have felt like I fell short. There are so many ways to cover a Super Bowl, but to be doing it in this capacity just feels like this is it. This is what I dreamed about when I was a kid and knew how my dad did it. The fact we are both going to wake up on February 11 and be getting ready to call the Super Bowl is cool. I feel it won’t really sink in until that morning.
It’s history.
First father-daughter to ever call a Super Bowl. We’re on different broadcasts. He is doing the national broadcast radio for Westwood One. He has done 14 straight years. So he is the longest-tenured announcer in the history of the sport. He passed Joe Buck a couple of years ago. This is my first one, and I’m doing it for Sky Sports based in the United Kingdom. They have the NFL rights and carry the games. It’s a huge deal. For my American friends, if you’re an NFL football fan, you’re watching Sky Sports there. This is their premiere channel to consume American football. We have an hour buildup show, halftime, post-game. I’ll be on the field getting interviews, on the field for post-game. It’s a dream come true.
Olivia Harlan Dekker
How is it living in the UK?
I live in London because my husband [Sam Dekker] plays pro basketball over here for the London Lions. We’ve moved all over, Turkey, Russia. He was in the NBA for six seasons and now overseas. To be honest, I thought my career would have to pause or end once we moved overseas and decided to start our family. The most ironic beautiful thing is now that we landed in London, I’ve had this introduction to Sky Sports and been a big part of their NFL coverage. Now I’m working my way up the NFL more than I had in the States. I was covering the NFL for 10 years, but not at this level. This all feels really big. Now my career is as full and fulfilling as possible. I’ve never been more excited about work than I have been this year.
Where do you stand on Taylor Swift and all the attention she has been getting?
We’ve never seen anything like it. It’s not the first celebrity an NFL player has dated, but not at this magnitude and not when social media is as far as it is where we see every entrance into the stadium. This is unprecedented. I actually read how many seconds the broadcast actually shows her. So many people complain about sticking to the game. I can appreciate that, but when you look at how many seconds she is on the air, it’s usually under 30 seconds over a three-and-a-half-hour show. When you look at it that way, I don’t think many people should be complaining. It’s great for the NFL. A lot of people who were not interested in the league are now watching. I’ve seen so many heartwarming stories of people who are huge Taylor Swift fans. Now they want to watch Chiefs games with their dad, grandfather, uncle. I think that is really cool. If you’re mad about it, I think you’re missing the point here. We’ll always remember this as the Taylor Swift Super Bowl. I do feel bad she is upstaging Usher.
What’s your hot take prediction on the game?
I didn’t expect the Chiefs to make it this far because of how they were struggling offensively. It’s Patrick Mahomes’ worst season statistically Travis Kelce’s worst season statistically. They don’t have any receivers that are a big part of it. Mecole Hardman has come along. From injury and being traded back. That’s been another body…We’re used to seeing these high-flying Chiefs with all this talent and all these weapons. They don’t have as much and don’t need as much. The last couple of weeks completely changed my mind on the Chiefs. I have written them off completely, and now they are tough to stop. They have the number two scoring defense in the NFL. They looked so dominant over the Ravens I think right now they are a force to be reckoned with. I hate to say this as I’ve been championing the 49ers all season. They were the best all season, but now we’ve seen some vulnerability. There is no way this story ends without the Chiefs winning.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given from your dad heading into this big opportunity?
He would say you can find someone who is better looking, has better connections, and knows more people. Someone who is more, more more. The only thing you can control is nobody can outwork you and out-prepare you. He is such a practicer of what he preaches. He does three or four national games a week for about 10 months out of the year. He will watch back his footage and games. And with a pen and paper, he’ll critique himself. He has been doing this for so long. Anyone else would just focus on getting ready for the next one.
He is the busiest man I know. He has to be the busiest man in show business. Maybe Michael Strahan. I can’t find anyone’s schedule who rivals my dad’s. He still cares so much about the fundamentals. He is such a practitioner of the industry and studies so much. I think he has instilled in me the pride to cover this league with such a profession, I think that is what led me to take it so seriously and to prep so much. I like to think I prepare as hard as he does, but I don’t think anyone does. I’ve had an amazing example of how to do this job day in and day out.
