Gruden replaces Kornheiser on MNF

[painekiller]

Gruden replaces Kornheiser on MNF

BRISTOL, Conn. — Former Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden is replacing Tony Kornheiser on ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast team. Kornheiser cited a fear of flying in his decision to leave after three years.

The network said Monday that Gruden will be in the booth with Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski when the show starts its 40th season this fall.

“If I could handpick a replacement of a football guy, I would cast a net and drag in Jon Gruden,” Kornheiser said in a statement released by the network. “He is the two things you most want — smart and funny — and has the two things I don’t — good hair and a tan.”

Gruden led the Bucs to the 2003 Super Bowl title but was fired after this past season after his team lost four straight games to miss the playoffs. He worked as a guest analyst this year with the NFL Network during the draft and scouting combine.

“To join Mike and Jaws in the booth and to work alongside this top-notch team is going to be a real thrill,” Gruden said.

Gruden will make his debut with ESPN with a preseason game on Aug. 13, a Super Bowl rematch between the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kornheiser will continue to appear on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” and is relieved it doesn’t require air travel.

“My fear of planes is legendary and sadly true,” he said. “When I looked at the upcoming schedule it was the perfect storm that would’ve frequently moved me from the bus to the air.”

Oh thank you for getting rid of that joke on MNF. I like Tony on Pardon the Interruption, but he brought nothing to the football game. He knows less about the game then the average housewife and brought nothing to the telecast.

Now Jaws will have someone to debate football points with. Not that Gruden has earned his shot. He was not comfortable during the draft coverage and it showed. He never seems to want to hurt any one feelings, so that may not be any more than a vanilla coverage.

I would have liked to have seen Warren Sapp or Deion Sanders, guys with flair and not afraid to state an opinion, but what the heck. Anyone is better than Tony K.

[Mike]

I agree that Kornheiser on MNF was a disaster. I find him annoying as it is, but then he would try to be funny on the telecast and it did not work.

Good riddance.

[barrett]

Kornheiser was good for what they wanted from him. You have to fault the network if they hire a guy to announce football who doesn't know football. He was hired to be Tony Kornheiser and he was. I thought he was mildly entertaining but pointless. It was clear they were trying to appeal to casual fans with him by sacrificing knowledge and analysis for non-football appeal. The problem is that Monday night football is not close to the cultural icon it once was. Especially since it is on a Sports only cable network now. It would appear the hiring of gruden shows that abc/espn/disney finally realized that only real football fans were watching monday night football these days and they want to hear about football.

Hopefully they also make a change and stop bringing in entertainment celebrities to hang out in the booth. This was 100 times more annoying than Kornheiser.

[HPF Bob]

Hey, Tony. Fear of flying?? I hear you can buy the MaddenCruiser cheap on e-Bay, complete with horse trailer and eight-legged turkeys. You mean you couldn't have made this work? You couldn't have had Wilbon cold-cock you just before takeoff so you'd be out while the plane was in the air?

Man, you are so disappointing. Man up, dude.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Hey, Tony. Fear of flying?? I

Man, you are so disappointing. Man up, dude.

I think that it was evident that Tony was a bad fit for MNF or any football telecast. Instead of saying, you suck and you are fired, they gave him a way out. Nothing wrong with that, it saves a little dignity and allows him to stick with PTI without having to belittle him.

As for Gruden in the box, I think he'll add a little more football knowledge to the booth. However, after seeing him on the NFL Network, my opinion of him has gone down quite a bit. The same thing goes for Marshall Faulk in that both had pretty robust reputations as "football geniuses" and then when I hear them talk, I have my doubts.

For me, there are 3 guys that I like to hear talk football that are on the NFL Network and they are Solomon Wilcots, Rod Woodson, and Sterling Sharpe. The rest of their "analysts" are just guys to me looking for some pay checks now that they aren't in the league.

[nunusguy]

My personal choice for the replacement would have been Greudens NFL Network sidekick, Mike Mayock. But I realize that's not realistic for ESPN since they want a name (like atleast a former NFL HC), and somebody who's
not the consummate Xs & Os type guy as Mayock who would be far too technical (in a football sense) for much of ESPNs audience.
The main thing is that they got rid of Kornheiser, who in my opinion was nothing but a pick by his "pals" at ESPN, and was totally unqualified for the job.

[Keith]

Yeah, Mayock is not really dynamic enough for the MNF forum, but his insight is invaluable.

Gruden has some Madden-esque qualities about him, taking away the caricature that Madden became in the back half of his career, right down to his time as a Raiders HC even. He'll say some dumb things, some funny things, but he's a football guy with a sense of humor, so chances are this will all be okay.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

My personal choice for the replacement would have been Greudens NFL Network sidekick, Mike Mayock. But I realize that's not realistic for ESPN since they want a name (like atleast a former NFL HC), and somebody who's
not the consummate Xs & Os type guy as Mayock who would be far too technical (in a football sense) for much of ESPNs audience.
The main thing is that they got rid of Kornheiser, who in my opinion was nothing but a pick by his "pals" at ESPN, and was totally unqualified for the job.

They already have that guy in the booth, Jaws. He is one of the best at breaking down tape and showing the fan what is happening. Adding a draft guy, and that is what Mayock is a draft guy would not help the booth.

IMO adding a guy like Warren Sapp would be much better TV.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by Keith

Yeah, Mayock is not really dynamic enough for the MNF forum, but his insight is invaluable.

I like Mayock, but not for MNF. He'd be constantly talking about who was drafted in which round and who was a steal on draft day. In my opinion, he's too specialized and focused on the draft to be a NFL game day analyst.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by painekiller

IMO adding a guy like Warren Sapp would be much better TV.

I dunno much about Sapp, other than what little I saw of him on the NFL Network. I'm sure he knows the game, but is there a big "jerk-factor" one has to tolerate with Sapp ? I know it was so bad with Michael Irving I couldn't handle it, but when I had the patience to listen to him L realized he actually made some perceptive remarks. But his personality just drowned out whatever insight he offered, atleast for me.
I think another x-HC on NFL Network, Mooch the x-49er coach, would be better than Gruden, but I'm OK with Gruden. I'm really not very picky about who they have as long as he knows football and talks about football.
But back to Kornheiser. The only guy on MNF who ever worked for me who's shtick wasn't football was Cosell, but he was truly one of a kind.

[papabear]

I don't understand why they feel the need to have a three man booth. Unless you have the perfect combination it's probably not going to work. There is nothing wrong with a two man booth.

[HPF Bob]

The three-man booth was originally meant to convey that the event was so special that extra commentary was needed. It was also a way to find a role for Cosell who was ill-cast as either play-by-play or color commentary. ABC, perhaps unintentionally, came up with great chemistry between the Jewish East-Coast lawyer Cosell and the aw-shucks Texas jock Don Meredith. What started out as a simple clash of cultures became something of a pretend fued that kept the broadcast entertaining on nights when the game itself didn't hold the audience.

But once Meredith left (he was promised he could be a serious actor for NBC), MNF never again had the sort of dynamics in the booth that once made it a phenomenom. They definitely tried to be provocative (Joe Namath, OJ Simpson, Alex Karras, ....all the way up to Dennis Miller) but they could never put a twosome or a threesome in the booth that delivered what they had in the early 1970s. FWIW, I consider SNF to now be the heir to MNF because it is the prime time major-network game with the top matchups, not the cable broadcast that gets the second-tier matchups.

[mussop]

Gruden is a putz. I hate that Im going to have to listen to him. I bet he doesnt last beyond this year anyway.