CBS Sports announced earlier today that Russell Wilson and Kyle Long have both signed on to be analysts on The NFL Today. WFAN host Craig Carton stated on his Craig Carton Show that the hires won’t do anything to create better programming for football fans.
What We Know: CBS Sports announced that Wilson and Long join the Sunday pregame desk alongside host James Brown, Bill Cowher, and Nate Burleson. Wilson replaces former quarterback Matt Ryan, who departed to become Atlanta’s president of football operations. Long has served with a number of guest appearances over the years with the network. Notably, Boomer Esiason — Carton’s longtime WFAN co-host from 2007 to 2017 with the Boomer and Carton show — was a long standing analyst on the program from 2002 till 2023.
What They Said: Craig Carton on The NFL Today (via The Craig Carton Show on SportsGrid): “The NFL today itself stinks. It has stunk for a long time. I love when they’re like, oh, 25 million people watch The NFL today. It’s not because it’s good, it’s because if I could quote Seinfeld, because it’s on.”
Craig Carton believes The NFL Today has never offered up anything of substance for football fans: “Nobody watches because you learn anything, or how it gives you great gambling advice. We watch it because at noon, becasue we can say to our wives and family that football is on. We don’t watch it because it’s entertaining, because it’s not. Nor do we watch it because they give you great insight. They don’t. We don’t watch it because they’re great at handicapping games. They’re not. It’s those cliche hours of sports programming in the history of television. It’s a garbage show, and has never been good.”
What Remains Unclear: We must assume that Carton was aware that his former WFAN co-host was a longtime analyst on the same show he’s critiquing. While Carton’s words may have been performative, Esiason has yet to respond to the criticisms of his longtime WFAN co-host.
What It Means: Craig Carton is obviously not a fan of CBS Sports’ The NFL Today. However, Esiason is one of the longest serving members on a program that his former co-host says was “never good.” The NFL Today has seen increases in viewership in recent years being shoulder programming to NFL play by play action. We will see if these comments find any response from Esiason.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
