ESPN apparently isn’t surrendering hope of putting Peyton Manning in the booth for “Monday Night Football” games this season.
Jimmy Pitaro, the network’s president, and Connor Schell, its executive vice president for content, flew to Denver last week to woo the retired quarterback, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which noted that there’s no indication what Manning’s level of interest may be.
As for ESPN, its approach reportedly is “Manning or bust.” With Jason Witten’s decision to return to the Dallas Cowboys after one season in the booth, the man who co-wrote a book about ESPN and remains plugged into the network’s inner workings thinks there will be a two-person booth with Joe Tessitore doing play-by-play and Booger McFarland analyzing the game unless Manning decides to give it a try.