ESPN’s Mike Greenberg is not only an iconic multimedia personality who has distinguished himself with class and intelligent conversation, he is an absolute show saver, and perhaps even a network saver.
Greenberg currently is the host and maestro of ESPN’s morning program Get Up. The show began in 2018 with Greenberg alongside Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose as cohosts. As an aside, I like Beadle a lot as an on-air personality. She is daring, entertaining, and glib.
Still, the pairing of Greenberg and Beadle was an unmitigated disaster. There was zero chemistry, zero fun, and zero reason to watch what was supposed to become an anchor show for ESPN. Instead, it dropped like an anchor.
As with any failing show in television, the tinkering began. Beadle left the program and ESPN shuffled Rose, Laura Rutledge, and others alongside Greenberg. What they finally realized is that the eminently talented and savvy Greenberg needs no cohost. Check the resume.
The Northwestern grad also hosted NBA Countdown for ESPN and ABC. With Greenberg, Stephen A. Smith, and Michael Wilbon, that program rivaled the standard of NBA studio shows, Inside the NBA, with Ernie Johnson, Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal.
Greenberg also hosts his own program, Greeny, on ESPN Radio, a place he called home for almost two decades on Mike & Mike with Mike Golic. That program became the stuff of radio legend with both Greenberg and Golic inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2016 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
Greenberg joined ESPN in September 1996 as an anchor for the launch of ESPNEWS. He later anchored SportsCenter for many years. The dude even has three New York Times best-selling books: Why My Wife Thinks I’m an Idiot, Mike & Mike’s Rules for Sports and Life, and All You Could Ask For.
In sports, you put the ball in the hands of your best players. Same for media. Over the past year especially, Greenberg has taken Get Up to new levels of entertainment and information. More than this, however, he has actually changed his longstanding personality and on-air persona.
Let’s face it, in most of his work, Greenberg has been the straight man. He certainly was that for the vociferous Golic. Greenberg, while humorous, smart, and always prepared, has embraced the shirt and tie, buttoned down, conservative, and preppy image. Staid, in control, proper – these have been the character hallmarks of Greenberg.
Give Get Up a watch and you’ll see something completely different, and by the way, wonderful. There is a new Mike Greenberg. He has traded in his tie for an open collar and beard. He regularly wears an Aaron Rodgers jersey on air, unabashedly showing his longtime fan dedication to his beloved New York Jets.
He moderates segments where mini NFL helmets are smashed. Heck, he even dances on stage with co-host Harry Douglas. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not your father’s Mike Greenberg.
Some have looked at Greenberg‘s transformation as selling out or acquiescing to ratings and image consultants. I see it as Mike Greenberg finally having some fun.
He is letting his finely coiffed hair down, playing up his love of sports to the hilt, and enjoying being the ringleader with a host of guests including Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Douglas, Domonique Foxworth, Ryan Clark, Jeff Saturday, Damien Woody, Kimberley Martin, Dan Graziano, Monica McNutt, and others.
All of these guests play off the veteran star Greenberg providing insightful interaction and interjections. Perhaps the most entertaining part of Greenberg‘s repertoire is his penchant for drama.
He absolutely loves juicy headlines, deep plots, ongoing storylines, possible trades, crucial games, and key matchups. You can hear it in his voice. He sets the tone and the backdrop for the most important news and events across all sports.
The October 25, 2023 edition of Get Up was a great example of Greenberg’s zest and depth. He opened the show with dramatic highlights of the Diamondbacks-Phillies NLCS Game 7. With basketball and football dominating the discussion on most national sports talk shows, it was great to see Get Up actually lead with baseball.
Greenberg then seamlessly segued to highlights of the Lakers/Nuggets game. With great aplomb, he left space in his highlight read for McNutt to jump in and deliver her commentary. After the highlights, Greenberg led a terrific discussion on the poor performance of LA’s Anthony Davis with Brian Windhorst and McNutt.
In the show’s “What We’ve Learned” segment, Greenberg talked about the wide-open nature of the NFL with Foxworth, Spears, and Saturday. While the panelists all agreed that several teams could win the Super Bowl this year, Greenberg took the stance that the Chiefs remain the team to beat.
Subsequently, in the “One Call Away” segment, Greenberg did an expert job leading Spears and Foxworth in a discussion about which team should be calling the Giants about trading for Saquon Barkley.
This is the true essence of Greenberg. In the first 20 minutes of the program, he showed his expertise and knowledge in baseball, basketball, and football. This is about his experience, time, and work over the years.
There are some marvelous talents in sports television today who are extremely limited in their scope of knowledge. Charles Barkley knows hoops. Barry Melrose knows pucks. Pedro Martinez knows pitching. On the contrary, Mike Greenberg knows everything.
The best part of the current-day Greenberg is that he’s having fun. You can see it in his face, his smile, and his actions. He’s excited about the show, and that rubs off on the viewers. In a segment about the University of Michigan sign-stealing allegations, Greenberg introduced a quote from Deion Sanders who said that stealing signs in football doesn’t matter.
After the clip, Mike Greenberg disagreed with Sanders saying to Foxworth that it has to make a difference if a defense knows what type of play is coming. Greenberg‘s excellence and energy has changed Get Up from a run-of-the-mill sports highlight show into a rapid-fire, pick-a-topic, and fire-away sports cavalcade.
His quick wit and ability to move the conversation forward is truly unmatched. In a segment about Aaron Rodgers potentially coming back from his injury, Greenberg once again broke free from the binds of objectivity and was visibly excited, almost giddy at the prospects. With great glee, bellowed, “I have three words for you: He has risen!”
The “Week 8 Watch” segment took a quick look at the upcoming NFL games. In these types of fast-paced segments, Greenberg’s ability to move the program along without taking a breath is surpassed only by NFL RedZone’s Scott Hanson who, every Sunday, inhales at 1:00 PM and doesn’t exhale until 7:30 PM.
Did you ever think that the nerdy Greenberg would be doing a segment called “Night Club”? Well, this version of the Hall of Fame broadcaster is doing just that. He happily stepped aside as Spears went through highlights of NFL games.
No one gives space and air to his guests like Greenberg. He realizes that being a great host isn’t always about what you say, it’s what you don’t say. What we are seeing in full view is the true reincarnation of a sports talk marvel.
Mike Greenberg has changed his approach and demeanor, and in doing so, has given all of us a reason to “get up” and watch the transformation unfold.
John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
