ESPN appears to be leaving no stone unturned in its search to improve “Monday Night Football,” and the network is reportedly at least considering the idea of moving its top college football broadcast duo to the NFL.
According to the latest from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, ESPN has floated the idea of moving its top NCAA football broadcast duo of Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler to “Monday Night Football.” While network executives are said to be hesitant to make such a significant change with their college football programming, the fact that ESPN is considering it shows that almost everything is on the table for “Monday Night Football.”
ESPN’s dream scenario was to convince Peyton Manning to start a career in broadcasting, but that is not going to happen in 2020. Manning turned down a massive offer and officially informed the network of his decision recently.
With Manning now out of the picture, ESPN has reportedly made an eight-figure offer to Drew Brees in hopes that the New Orleans Saints quarterback will commit to a role with “Monday Night Football” after he retires, though nobody knows exactly when that will be. Since Brees is not an option for 2020, Marchand reports that ESPN is also considering several internal candidates including Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky.
The duo of Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland has not impressed viewers, and the latter made some flubs during the NFL playoffs last season that had to have been embarrassing for ESPN. While network execs continue to aim high and show a willingness to spend top dollar, ESPN can’t seem to secure any of its top candidates.
