NBC has reportedly rejected ESPN’s trade offer for Al Michaels. What is Disney to do now to revamp its Monday Night Football television production?
No, Al Michaels will not be traded back to Disney, not even for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Andrew Marchand of The New York Post reports “NBC Sports has declined ESPN’s initial request to engage in trade talks to acquire Al Michaels.” While ESPN declined to comment, Greg Hughes of NBC Sports would offer this, “We look forward to Al [Michaels] completing his contract and calling Sunday Night Football games on NBC.”
Michaels is 75 years old and has two more years left on his NBC contract. The native Angeleno plans to call Super Bowl LVI from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood before retiring. Once the 2021 season is complete, former ESPN Monday Night Football play-by-play guy Mike Tirico will replace Michaels alongside Cris Collinsworth in the NBC booth.
In short, NBC knows what it’s doing and opted to say, ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to whatever Disney was willing to trade for Michaels. Marchand also reports two more interesting caveats to the ongoing Monday Night Football saga.
The current play-by-play team of Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland have not been informed they are being pulled off the telecast. ESPN is also still actively pursuing former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning to provide color commentary for the show.
Here are a few interesting options to consider how the entertainment conglomerate goes about fixing its struggling primetime NFL television product.
Marchand mentions the NFL Network’s Kurt Warner as a candidate because he was reportedly the guy ESPN passed over in favored of Jason Witten. There is also some interest in seeing what former Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers could do in the booth.
In terms of play-by-play, ESPN could look to poach some of CBS’ and FOX’s top talent. Marchand mentions the No. 2 guy at FOX in Kevin Burkhardt, as well as No. 2 and No. 3 at CBS in Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan, respectively. All three men are tremendously respected in the industry and could partner with Manning, Warner or Rivers to make Monday Night Football magical once again.
In NFL circles, it won’t come cheap, but there are plenty of options outside of the Disney family. Internally, ESPN could try a three-man booth with Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick. ESPN also employs the eccentric, but absolutely delightful Pat McAfee, who used to be a punter for the Colts during Manning’s last few years in Indianapolis. Matt Hasselbeck could also work.
And then there’s taking a deep hard look at oneself and realizing the ESPN might have to promote a team up from the college ranks.
ESPN crushes it in play-by-play in college football. They could bring Sean McDonough back into the Monday Night booth. Greg McElroy does a good job doing providing color commentary. However, there are two ESPN college teams that could make the leap to the pros.
ESPN’s No. 1 college team of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit is the gold standard in college football, though FOX’s tandem of Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt are exceptional, too. If Disney wants to get into the Super Bowl rotation, putting its best team on the Monday Night Football circuit could help the cause.
The other broadcasting team to consider is Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic on the sidelines. This trio typically handles the primetime game on the SEC Network. They do a fantastic job, but might be ready for a bigger stage. Hart can call anything, Cubelic is incredible on the sidelines and Rodgers has flourished in his broadcasting career into his early 30s.
Overall, Disney has plenty of options to revamp Monday Night Football if it feels so inclined. Not being able to pry away Tony Romo from CBS hurts, but that doesn’t mean ESPN shouldn’t continue to swing for the fences. If that means grossly overpaying for Manning, do it. Should you want someone from a rival network, go get him. If you want to promote from within, do that.