The ratings for Monday Night Football on ESPN continue to rise this month, reaching historic levels in Week 15 as the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. It was a difficult game for fans of “Da Bears” to watch, as the team managed to put up just nine points despite a strong performance from quarterback Justin Fields.
Something else that fans watching the game may have noticed, sans the ManningCast, was the Monday Night Football broadcast booth of Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Reddick. The trio’s game behind the mic was a topic of discussion on ESPN 1000 Chicago Wednesday morning on Kap & J. Hood on their segment “Shot or No Shot.”
“Last night, the Monday Night [Football] crew had a little bit of a rough go at it on the ESPN broadcast,” said Tyler Aki, producer at ESPN 1000 Chicago. “I don’t know what you guys thought of it.”
“My friend Jim Beam and I had no problem with the Monday Night broadcast,” said Jonathan Hood, co-host of the morning drive program. “Jim said it was a fine broadcast… He came over with his wife Coke, and they were together… They were having a good time, and had no problem with the Monday Night [Football] booth.”
The trio of Levy, Griese and Riddick is in its second full season together, and with consistent turnover in NFL front offices, not everyone is so sure that the booth will return as currently constructed next season. The guys on ESPN 1000 Chicago predict Riddick is well-positioned to land a front office job in the near future – potentially with the Chicago Bears, whose current general manager, Ryan Pace, is reportedly on the hot seat.
“If you’re a Bears fan or someone that’s looking for a general manager,” said Hood, “you want two-thirds of that booth to be intact.”
Hood spoke about Riddick’s ability to break down the problems in a front office and put an organization on a path to effectively solve them, reminding him of baseball analyst Steve Stone.
“Steve Stone hypothetically can go to any place and get a GM job, and [the team says] ‘Steve, what’s wrong with the organization?,’ and then an hour-and-a-half [later], he’s still answering the question. For some in front offices, that’s intimidating,” Hood elucidated. “And I think the same thing for Louis… It’s not because he’s telegenic and great on television as an analyst. It’s about him understanding football, [and] understanding [it] in a granular detail that can help an organization.”
Connor McKnight, who hosts pregame and postgame shows for Chicago White Sox baseball on ESPN 1000 Chicago, was on the show Wednesday filling in for co-host David Kaplan, and agreed that Riddick could be an asset to a front office if he were to land a job within one because of his ability to evaluate talent, something apparent from his time in the booth.
“I’m talking about guys who write [about] this league; guys who follow this league, cover it,” explained McKnight. “Riddick has that kind of reputation. I would not be surprised at all [if he came] out of the booth and [went] into that sort of thing. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he’s in a front office come next season.”
