Fashion
After Trump vs. Harris, He Turns to the Washington Commanders
The NBC correspondent Steve Kornacki developed a following for his touch-screen analysis during elections. He also untangles playoff projections for N.F.L. teams.
About every four years, Steve Kornacki becomes a reluctant internet celebrity.
The comedian Leslie Jones has called him “the sexiest nerd on TV.” People magazine agrees. His go-to outfit — glasses, a white dress shirt, a tie and khaki or dark pants — is a trendy Halloween costume in some Washington circles.
“I’m not sure I really understand it, but I’m flattered,” said Kornacki, a national political correspondent for NBC News who becomes an object of desire during election cycles for his adroitness with a large touch screen and his analysis of electoral maps and polling data.
At one point in November, Kornacki spent about 17 consecutive hours on air. That was a cakewalk compared with 2020, when the presidential election was not called for four days. He slept a total of 10 hours that week with a couple of naps at his desk.
After that exhausting stretch, NBC Sports asked Kornacki whether he would bring his data presentation skills to “Football Night in America,” its Sunday night studio show, to dissect the playoff chances of National Football League teams. Kornacki, who grew up in Massachusetts as a New England Patriots and Boston Celtics fan, accepted the additional responsibilities, saying he would have been watching football anyway.
Similar to election night, when Kornacki explains which states could enable a candidate to reach 270 electoral college votes, his football segments untangle the best paths forward, including the must-win games for teams still mathematically alive in the playoff hunt.
