In the foreword to Mike Pereira's new autobiography, play-by-play announcer Joe Buck nails the best description I've heard about Fox Sports' ace NFL rules analyst.
Buck describes Pereira as both a "weapon" and a "security blanket" for Fox's NFL game coverage. An ace-in-the-hole that rival TV networks such as CBS Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN can't match.
His analyst partner, Troy Aikman, agrees: "Now almost every sport has a guy like Mike. Of course, nobody's as good as our guy."
You can say that again.
Just ask CBS Sports, which cut poor Mike Carey this off-season after the ex-NFL ref tried — and failed — to match Pereira's success analyzing NFL officiating on the air.