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The Monday Night Football booth has been home to some absolutely legendary figures since the first game was broadcast all the way back in 1970 with Howard Cosell providing color commentary, and in the past fifty years, the program has featured icons including Al Michaels and John Madden providing insight into the action on the field.
When you consider most professional football players dedicate their entire lives to the sport in order to make it to the NFL, it makes sense that many of them have decided to use their knowledge of the game to pursue a career in broadcasting after retiring and the MNF roster has also sported notable names like Joe Namath, Lynn Swan, and O.J. Simpson.
However, the lineup ESPN has rolled out in recent years has been incredibly underwhelming thanks in no small part to the consistent incompetence of Booger McFarland, whose steady stream of brainfarts serves as quite the contrast to the incredible amount of insight Tony Romo has provided us with while quickly becoming a fan favorite thanks to his work calling games for CBS.
After the end of the regular season, reports started to circulate that ESPN was considering giving Booger the boot, and soon after, we learned they were putting together a monster offer in an attempt to poach Romo but were ultimately unsuccessful, as he signed a deal for $17 million a year to stay teamed up with Jim Nantz.
After getting negged, the network then turned its attention to Al Michaels and attempted to orchestrate a “trade” with NBC with the hopes of pairing him up with Peyton Manning for what would’ve been one hell of a dynamic duo.
However, NBC wasn’t having any of that but that didn’t stop ESPN from continuing to pursue Eli’s older brother, and as of earlier this month, it was prepared to offer him upwards of $20 million per season to throw on a headset.
Sadly, The New York Post reports the dream appears to be dead, as multiple sources told the outlet that Manning is perfectly content in retirement and has no interest traveling around the country for months on end regardless of how much he’s compensated for it. It’s unclear exactly how much ESPN was planning to offer him but it seems likely it would have been more than what Romo received (Manning is supposedly worth around $200 million so he should be just fine).
If The Post is to be believed, ESPN will still continue to try to bring the Booger Era to a merciful end, and while Kurt Warner’s name has apparently been floated, they may also tap a broadcaster that’s already on the payroll if that also falls through.
Good job, good effort, Worldwide Leader.