Sometimes reducing someone’s role feels the the end of an era, even if that person’s career is continuing.
Multiple media outlets broke the news that Chris Berman is stepping down as host ESPN's NFL studio programming after 31 seasons but will remain with the network in a number of different roles after signing a new contract on Thursday.
Berman is a six-time National Sportscaster of the Year honoree and will remain as ESPN's host of NFL Primetime highlights after the NFL championship week games and the Super Bowl, and will have a role on Monday Night Countdown, offering opinion and perspective on historical events in the NFL. He will also call an MLB division series for ESPN Radio and be part of the ESPY Awards.
Berman, who was known as “Boomer” and “The Swami,” will also make appearances on-air in other capacities and serve in other public-facing roles for the company, ESPN said in a statement. He will no longer host the NFL draft or Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby.
Berman has hosted Sunday NFL Countdown for 31 seasons and has been part of SportsCenter with his Two Minute Drill for 38 years. From 1987 to 2005, he hosted NFL Primetime with Tom Jackson. He has covered 34 Super Bowls and handled NFL draft coverage for ESPN since 1987.
He was an original SportsCenter anchor and has also called MLB games and U.S. Open golf for ESPN.
No replacement for Berman has been named, though Suzy Kolber and Trey Wingo have been bandied about as potential replacements.
Berman has been known for his schtick and quirkiness, to the point of being like an overgrown 12-year old that is actually 61. There is a segment of people I talk to that believe his act grew tired. The problem I have with that sentiment is, take any person in any walk of life or profession, we find a way that works for us and we often double down on that approach. Berman has been no different and that quality should be celebrated, not scorned.
He has his catch phrases that included, “back, back, back, back, back …… gone!” for Major League Baseball. For NFL highlights, “He could …. go … all …. the ….. Way!” or “whoop!” or “Rumblin’ bumblin’ stumblin’!” Throw in random play on words nicknames like Kirt “What is that” Manwaring … Jeff “see through” Blauser …. Bert “be home” Blyleven. There was a time when those catch phrases were the funniest thing on the Planet Earth.
To me, Berman represented a different era of broadcasting. I remember in my college years getting up to watch NFL Countdown as he and Tom Jackson previewed all of the games before watching football all day. Then after the games, I remember watching the highlights of all the games. If you wanted to see highlights of a specific, you actually had to sit through the entire program to see them.
Nowadays, if you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan in Alaska, all you have to do is Google the highlights and they are at your fingertips.
I also remember such as an era where you watched the football games you were given. If it was Saturday, and you’re an Oklahoma or Nebraska fan in California, you had to find a sports bar or order Pay-Per-View to watch their game against Kansas State. If it was Sunday, and you’re a New Orleans Saints fan in Minnesota, you better find a sports bar or buy a satellite dish to watch their game against the Atlanta Falcons because you’re stuck with that Vikings-Bears game.
Now, thanks to DirectTV, BigTenNetwork, SEC Network, Pac 12 Network, etc., you have choices. Berman, however, has been a constant amid the cable network saturation.
You truly would have to look long and hard to find someone who has had a more lasting impact on a cable network than Berman, who joined ESPN in 1979 one month after the network was founded. Sure, Tom Brokaw had a lasting impact for NBC’s news desk. The same could be said for Dan Rather and CBS. However, those news desks existed before either.
I know this move does not mean the end of Berman’s time at ESPN but it’s the end as we once knew it.
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