At least one member of the Fox NFL Sunday cast will be working remotely for now. Plus: TNT plans to go with a different set of announcers for round one of the NBA Playoffs; college football uncertainty will have no bearing on ESPN’s Monday Night Football decision; Deion Sanders has a new gig.
Jimmy Johnson not traveling to Fox pregame show
Fox NFL Sunday analyst Jimmy Johnson will not appear in-studio “for the time being,” he announced Thursday. Johnson, who at 77 is in the age group at greatest risk of COVID-19, said he will contribute to the show remotely. He had already taken on a reduced role over the past two years, appearing only on the pregame show before flying home and ceding his seat to Tony Gonzalez for halftime and postgame reports. [Johnson/Twitter 8.13]
No Harlan, Eagle, on first round of playoffs
Kevin Harlan, Ian Eagle and Reggie Miller, who along with Stan Van Gundy combined to call every NBA restart “seeding game” on TNT, are not scheduled to broadcast any games during the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Brian Anderson, Spero Dedes, Joel Meyers and Bob Fitzgerald are set to serve as play-by-play voices during the opening round, with Chris Webber, Greg Anthony, Jim Jackson and Van Gundy as analysts. [Related: 2020 NBA Playoffs TV Schedule]
In a podcast appearance last month, Harlan said that following his first round break, he is scheduled to return for the second round. Notably, he also said that he had to turn down the chance to work this year’s Western Conference Finals, as CBS was unwilling to let him miss NFL assignments. Eagle, who also works CBS NFL games, would likely face the same conflict. [Turner Sports PR]
No change to MNF plans even if college season canceled
Even if the fall college football season is canceled, ESPN does not plan to deviate from its yet-to-be-announced plan to install Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Brian Griese as its new Monday Night Football team, the New York Post reported this week. ESPN had originally considered moving its lead college team of Chris Fowler and Kirk Hersbtreit to MNF if the college season was not played.
If there is no college season and the NFL elects to move some games to Saturdays as a result, Fowler and Herbstreit would reportedly be in line to call those games, assuming ESPN wins the rights to any.
The status of the college season is in flux after the Big Ten and Pac-12 chose to cancel their fall seasons this week. The Big 12 announced Wednesday that it plans to begin its fall football schedule on September 26 and the ACC and SEC have given no indication yet that they plan to punt on the fall. ESPN is not currently scheduled to air any games until Navy-BYU on Labor Day. [NYP 8.10]
Sanders leaves NFL Network
NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders has departed to join Barstool, it was announced this week. Per the New York Post, Sanders turned down a contract extension from NFL Network that would have paid him just half of his current salary. In his new role, Sanders will launch a podcast and contribute to a Sunday morning NFL show.
Sanders had been with NFL Network since 2006. [NYP 8.12]
