It was reported that ESPN was interested in hiring the coveted color commentator before his CBS mega-deal. Considering Monday Night Football’s history of flashy and unique hires—from Jon Gruden to Tony Kornheiser to Dennis Miller—what conclusions can we draw about ESPN’s next move?
There are two things we could take away from the news that Tony Romo will make $17 million a season to call football games for CBS.
One is that the pool of former player analysts is so deeply homogeneous and uninteresting that even the slightest departure—a person who can provide a whiff of genuine excitement while maintaining a firm (or, in Romo’s case, exemplary) grasp on what’s happening on the field—is worth a small fortune to a network interested in being a major player in football.