For the first time in a longtime, there isn’t much complaining around ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast. Now on their fourth crew since Mike Tirico spurned The Worldwide Leader for NBC in 2016, ESPN may have finally found a trio that works with Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick.
But could it still be another one and done for this crew? We’re just past the quarter mark of the NFL season and general manager jobs are already opening up, most notably the Atlanta Falcons. Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper joined 92.9 The Game’s Jon Chuckery and said Riddick is certainly a name who could fill the Falcons vacancy.
Not only is Riddick qualified for a general manager position based on his front office credentials, but he’ll also create buzz for an organization. Having been with ESPN since 2013, and now a full-time analyst on Monday Night Football, his name resonates with fans. Like John Lynch with the 49ers and Mike Mayock with the Raiders, Riddick might be the next analyst to go directly from TV to a front office.
If Riddick does land with the Falcons or another franchise, ESPN might continue with Levy and Griese, but they could also keep the revolving door of Monday Night Football broadcasters turning. We’re almost certain to hear about ESPN’s annual courtship of Peyton Manning in an attempt to bolster Monday Night Football’s star power. If not Peyton, maybe they would settle for his less polished little brother Eli Manning who hasn’t closed the door on broadcasting.
The name that might make most sense is Kirk Herbstreit. He’s already in the ESPN family and arguably the best analyst in college football, skills that translated seamlessly to the NFL when he called one of their Week 1 Monday Night Football doubleheaders. Herbstreit has since admitted he enjoyed the broadcast and now feels more open to doing NFL games than he previously thought.
But for now, we can enjoy the Levy, Griese, Riddick trio, because although Aaron Rodgers prefers to watch Monday Night Football with the sound off, this crew has some potential.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
