There’s a reason a TV movie was once made about Monday Night Football. And while the current incarnation of the sports television franchise may not be as conducive to drama as the Cosell-led version of the 1970s, there are no shortage of conflicts either.
After three seasons in the booth, analyst Tony Kornheiser stepped down from Monday Night Football last week, citing a long-standing fear of flying. Kornheiser’s departure set off a week that saw one network jilted at the proverbial altar, rumors of acrimony between two members of the MNF announcing team, and another round of scathing criticism from a former MNF analyst.
Following the release of the NFL schedule in April, Kornheiser sent out “smoke signals” that he was uncomfortable with the amount of traveling that would be done. “Almost every game is at least 1,000 miles separate from the other,” he told Newsday earlier this week. He approached ESPN about working a reduced schedule, but was flatly rebuffed by ESPN bosses.
When Kornheiser decided to bow out from Monday Night Football, ESPN quickly went to a broadcasting free agent who was on the verge of a deal with another network. After internal discussions about other possible replacements, ESPN “went pretty quickly to” former Buccaneers and Raiders coach Jon Gruden.
At the time, Gruden had all but become an employee of NFL Network. According to a Sports Illustrated report, Gruden — who worked the NFL Combine and the NFL Draft for NFLN — was set to join the network and eventually become the lead analyst on its package of eight regular season games. Not only had NFLN “finalized everything but the signature on the paper for Gruden to begin working there immediately,” but Gruden was set to “be at NFL Films [last week] to begin his job full time.”
Gruden’s spurning of NFL Network for ESPN was exacerbated by the fact that “no one from the Gruden camp called [NFL Network CEO Steve] Bornstein to tell him.” The situation left NFL Network “furious,” and Bornstein wanting “to wring Gruden’s neck.”
While the relationship between Kornheiser and MNF play-by-play voice Mike Tirico likely never reached that level of acrimony, stories have begun surfacing that the two former boothmates did not always get along. A source told The Big Lead that Kornheiser and Tirico “were barely cordial” during their time together in the Monday night booth, and ESPN had to send “highest level execs … to games just to make sure all was OK weekly.”
Some of the conflict between Tirico and Kornheiser may have arisen from their differing approaches to the broadcast. Whereas “Tirico treats the broadcast like a cathedral,” Kornheiser “was there to be the jester,” a source told The Big Lead. Kornheiser “was always saying Tirico hated him.”
Through a spokesman, Tirico told The Big Lead that he and Kornheiser had a long, positive conversation the day before ESPN announced Kornheiser’s departure, and that “There are no issues on my end.”
Any dislike on the part of Tirico pales in comparison to the open derision former ESPN analyst Joe Theismann had for Kornheiser. Theismann, who sat alongside Kornheiser and Tirico for one season of Monday Night Football before being replaced by Ron Jaworski, has been a frequent critic of his former colleague. In the past, Theismann has referred to MNF as a “three-hour Tony Kornheiser show,” and decried the program’s shift from focusing on football to being a more “issue-oriented” broadcast. With Kornheiser now stepping down from MNF, Theismann could not resist taking aim at his former colleague yet again.
In an interview with Sirius NFL Radio, Theismann — in addition to alleging that he had been fired because he “talked about football” — did not mince his words. Theismann referred to Kornheiser as a “fish out of water,” and a “cynic … [who] wants to criticize.” According to Theismann, Kornheiser “really didn?t want to do football,” and the booth “wasn?t a comfortable place for him.” In what can be considered another swipe at Kornheiser, Theismann also noted that, “It isn?t the knowledge of the individuals. It?s the chemistry that is created between the individuals that makes, I think, for a great telecast.”
While behind-the-scenes conflict is far from unique in television, Monday Night Football — even with its diminished stature on cable television — continues to be a lightning rod for headline-making squabbles. Perhaps the best way to sum it up is to use the tagline from Monday Night Mayhem, the aforementioned TV movie — “there’s more action in the booth than on the field.”
