According to a report from Deadline, former NFL player Akbar Gbajabiamila will not be returning to the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. The former defensive end worked just one season on the daily NFL morning show, with his last appearance on the program this past Valentine’s Day.
Furthermore, Gbajabiamila is just the latest exit from the morning show on the NFL Network, as Peter Schrager exited the program in March to take an insider role with ESPN. Since both Schrager and Gbajabiamila’s exit, the program has been using a rotation of guest hosts to work alongside Kyle Brandt and Jamie Erdahl.
Nevertheless, he will still co-host broadcasts of American Ninja Warrior according to the report in Deadline.
Gbajabiamila joined Good Morning Football in the fall of last year as the program moved its home location from New York City to Los Angeles. This new setup allowed Gbajabiamila to be in studio with Erdahl, while both Brandt and Schrager joined the program remotely from their New York home studio. In addition, while he has been on the call of American Ninja Warrior since 2013, he also worked on The Talk on CBS, which ended this past December.
As for who the NFL Network will facilitate in the full-time role as co-hosts on the popular morning program, the network has not released any plans yet. However, according to several reports, talks between ESPN and the NFL have re-surfaced regarding a possible acquisition of NFL Media, which would include the NFL Network as well as other properties.
Looking ahead, the NFL may opt out of its current agreement with Disney following the 2028–2029 season. Therefore, making an agreement for NFL Media now would benefit ESPN with more NFL content for its already vast host of live 24/7 channels, and benefit the league by finding a suitor to take hold of some assets which have not performed as well as originally thought.
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