Robert Griffin III may lose 1 ESPN role to big-name replacement

Oct 17, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Steve Young (left), Robert Griffin III (center) and Larry Fitzgerald on the ESPN Monday Night Football Countdown set before the game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Robert Griffin III has worked in a few different roles for ESPN since he first joined the network in 2021, but he may lose one of them in the near future.

ESPN is planning another shakeup of its “Monday Night Football” pregame show, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Griffin has worked as an analyst on “Monday Night Countdown” for the past two seasons after he replaced Randy Moss, but Marchand reports that ESPN is “aggressively pursuing” former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce to potentially take RG3’s spot.

Scott Van Pelt was named the host of “Monday Night Countdown” when ESPN revamped the program last summer. He is expected to return along with analysts Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark and feature reporter Michelle Beisner-Buck. Larry Fitzgerald, who had a part-time role with the pregame show last year, may not return. The former star wide receiver’s contract with ESPN expired in February and has not been renewed.

The big question is whether ESPN can land Kelce. The 7-time Pro Bowler is viewed as the biggest free-agent prize of the media market this offseason. He was also being pursued by NBC, CBS, FOX and Amazon Prime even before he officially announced his retirement from the NFL.

Marchand notes that Griffin was once viewed as a rising star at ESPN but has “leveled off,” which is why he is at risk of losing his spot on the “Monday Night Football” pregame show. RG3 still appears on other programs with ESPN, including the one during which he recently dropped a blatant S-bomb.