KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — Legendary sports broadcaster Kevin Harlan and his daughter Olivia Harlan Dekker made history during Sunday night’s broadcast of the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers, becoming the first father-daughter duo to call an NFL playoff game.
Harlan has been a professional sports announcer for 40 years and Olivia is following in his footsteps.
Olivia was on the sidelines as the Chiefs defeated the Steelers in the Wild Card round and according to her Twitter, she brought a special guest along with her.
Chiefs advance! Great to work with my Dad for the first time in 3 years, and an honor to make history as the first father-daughter duo to call an NFL playoff game on a national broadcast! And being 5 mo pregnant, it’s technically 3 generations working this game
Olivia Harlan Dekker tweet
Harlan and Olivia were joined by former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green on the call.
In 2019, Harlan famously left another mark on Chiefs football history.
While the Chiefs were fighting for the No. 2 seed in the AFC during the last game of the season, they needed help from the Miami Dolphins who were playing at the same time against the New England Patriots.
As then-Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick drove down the field against the Patriots and the Chiefs increased their lead over the Los Angeles Chargers, Harlan was heard calling both games during the broadcast.
Harlan spent 9 seasons as the play-by-play announcer for the Chiefs from 1985-1993. He also spent time as an announcer for the former Kansas City Kings and KU Jayhawks basketball.
Olivia signed a long-term deal with BetMGM as a host and media personality in August 2021. She originally joined in March 2021 as the host of the “Unleashed” podcast.
She attended the University of Georgia and began covering college football games and NBA games shortly after graduating.