ABC Channel 7-Fox 22 sports director/co-anchor Jack Webb will be the pre-game and post-game show host for New England Patriots football games this season on their social media, YouTube and website.
He began his stint for the Patriots in the team’s 13-13 tie with Indianapolis in their exhibition opener last week.
“This is a dream come true,” said the 26-year-old Arundel native, who will remain in his role as sports director-anchor at the stations WVII/WFVX. “It is an unbelievable opportunity and one I couldn’t say ‘no’ to.”
He said he “couldn’t believe it” when he landed the gig.
“I’m really excited to attack it from a professional sense,” Webb said. “There is the inner kid in you who is obviously honored and fired up about it. But then there’s also the professional who wants to do great things in this business, and I recognize the opportunity in front of me, and I’m going to prepare with that in mind.”
The former three-sport athlete and all-conference offensive lineman at Saco’s Thornton Academy, who went on to play football at Sacred Heart University and the University of Maine, said he will be in a studio at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on game days.
The pre-game show will begin an hour and 15 minutes before kickoff, and the post-game show will begin 5 to 10 minutes after the conclusion of the game and will last two-plus hours, he said.
Along with Webb as host, the show will include panelists Paul Perillo, Mike Dussault and former Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown, who has been inducted into the Patriots’ Hall of Fame.
Perillo is the editor of the Patriots’ website, and he is one of the hosts of the Patriots Unfiltered podcast. Dussault is a content senior manager for the Patriots’ website and a host and producer for the Patriots Unfiltered podcast.
Brown played 192 games, all with the Patriots, and is a Pro Bowler and three-time Super Bowl champion who caught 557 career passes for 6,366 yards and returned 252 punts including three for touchdowns. He also saw playing time as a defensive back and had three interceptions in 2004. He was also a Patriots assistant coach.
“They will be providing a ton of value. It’s going to be a really cool thing to be a part of,” said Webb, who was the 2025 Maine Sportscaster of the Year.
Webb said former UMaine football star and longtime National Football League defensive lineman Mike DeVito was the catalyst behind him earning the job.
DeVito is currently UMaine football’s director of player development and alumni relations.
Several years ago, Webb said DeVito connected him with someone who had worked at ESPN and who became a valuable resource for him and suggested that he interview for the Patriots gig.
“I couldn’t be more grateful and it all started with [DeVito[,” said Webb, who began his career working as the UMaine sports sideline reporter and an intern at ABC 7-Fox 22 before becoming the station’s sports anchor/reporter and then the sports director/anchor.
He did have a background in media that he developed in high school when he interviewed Thornton Academy athletes for a show called Trojan Talk with Jackie Moon.
Webb, whose college football career ended prematurely in 2022 by a knee injury, spent time as a student assistant coach at UMaine.
He said he is “very grateful” to WVII/WFVX general manager Mike Palmer and the other station administrators for allowing him to pursue the Patriots job and retain his job at the station.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it if they didn’t let me,” Webb said.
The Patriots have preseason games against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night and the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 27 before opening their regular season at 8:20 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9 in Seattle with a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl against the Seahawks. Seattle beat the Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.