Well, it was fun while the idea lasted. However, Al Michaels will not be returning to Monday Night Football through a trade between NBC and ESPN.
The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reported the Peacock will keep its star play-by-play guy in the SNF booth.
“We look forward to Al completing his contract and calling ‘Sunday Night Football’ games on NBC,” Greg Hughes, an NBC Sports spokesman, told The Post.
ESPN declined comment.
Reports indicated ESPN as looking to ramp up its broadcast booth of MNF, going from Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland, a heavily criticized coupling, to Michael and Peyton Manning. With Michaels out of the mix, the Post says ESPN is formulating other plans while not having told its current team it is out.
Though Tessitore and/or McFarland are not out yet, ESPN has formed several plans as it tries to figure out its Monday night booth. The Post previously reported ESPN’s interest in Philip Rivers. Rivers has said he intends to continue playing. ESPN passed on Kurt Warner for Jason Witten two years ago, but Warner is a name that can’t be ruled out.
Other names to keep an eye on per Marchand are: CBS’ Ian Eagle or FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt. Both are under contract, but are No. 2s on their networks’ NFL play-by-play depth charts, so there might be a more amenable compensation scenario as “Monday Night” could be looked upon as a promotion. Kevin Harlan, who is CBS’ No. 3 on the NFL and calls Monday night games for Westwood One radio, could also be considered.
Internally, ESPN has toyed with the idea of a booth with Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Brian Griese, according to sources. The trio did the back end of the “Monday Night” doubleheader last year. ESPN is hesitant to move Chris Fo