Tag: Kenny Albert

Report: Kenny Albert off Bears-Lions broadcast due to COVID protocol

COVID-19 rules will keep Kenny Albert from calling the Bears-Lions season opener on FOX.

The shuffling in announce booth continues. This one, however, was an unexpected turn. The always-solid Kenny Albert will not be able to do play-by-play Sunday as scheduled on the Chicago Bears-Detroit Lions game because of COVID-19 protocol, the New York Post reports.

Albert has been calling Stanley Cup playoff games for NBC in Edmonton. The COVID-19 rules in the States are a person must quarantine for two weeks after coming from a foreign country.

FOX will go to a familiar voice as the replacement for Albert, 77-year-old Dick Stockton, who has called games for more than 50 years. He will work with Jon Vilma, who is debuting as a color analyst for the network.

All NFL play-by-players and analysts are tested on-site before calling the games.

Ex-Jet Jonathan Vilma leaves ESPN for Fox Sports

Former Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma is leaving ESPN to join Fox Sports as an NFL color analyst.

Former Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma will be back in the NFL spotlight in 2020, but this time in the broadcasting booth.

According to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, Vilma is leaving ESPN to join Fox Sports as an NFL game analyst. He’ll likely serve as a color commentator alongside Kenny Albert.

Vilma previously worked on ABC’s college football pregame show with another former Jet, Mark Sanchez. He’s also made appearances on a variety of different ESPN shows, including “Get Up.”

Vilma was picked by the Jets in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami. He was with the Jets for four seasons and made a Pro Bowl in 2005 when he recorded 128 solo tackles, six pass defenses, one interception and four forced fumbles.

Vilma then joined the New Orleans Saints where he finished out his playing career. He was considered one of the main players in the Saints’ Bountygate scandal and received a one-year suspension from the league. It was later revoked.

Now, instead of making the calls on the field, Vilma will be the guy analyzing what teams do from afar. Given Vilma’s playing experience and time at ESPN already, he should slide into the color analyst job rather smoothly.

Report: FOX Sports grabs Jonathan Vilma from ESPN

Jonathan Vilma will be heading from ESPN to FOX Sports, according to a report.

The road seems to be heading from Bristol, Ct., to Los Angeles when it comes to sports analysts and broadcasting.

Another ESPN voice is leaving the Worldwide Leader for FOX Sports, according to a New York Post report:

Super Bowl Champion Jonathan Vilma has decided to leave ESPN/ABC and will sign with Fox to be an NFL game analyst, according to sources. Vilma will likely work with Kenny Albert on Sundays in the fall.

Albert had been teamed with Ronde Barber in past years. FOX did not renew Barber’s contract last year.

Per Andrew Marchand of the Post:

Besides the Vilma signing from ESPN, Fox has picked off three others from ESPN. Up-and-coming play-by-player Adam Amin will be in Fox’s NFL and MLB booths. Meanwhile, FS1 is bringing in Emmanuel Acho for its morning sports talks shows and Fox News/Fox Nation is expected to take current ESPN Radio talk show host Will Cain. Fox has not yet officially confirmed any of the moves.

Meanwhile, Fox still does not have a No. 2 analyst to team with Kevin Burkhardt after CBS took Charles Davis for the same level NFL role.

In the meantime, it is being patient in filling Davis’ spot for this season with Daryl Johnston and Mark Schlereth as potential one-year solutions, according to Post sources.

Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Vilma was the Jets’ first-round pick in 2004. He won a Super Bowl with the Saints and also was part of 2001 University of Miami national championship team.

Former Saints LB Jonathan Vilma joins FOX Sports NFL broadcasting team

Retired New Orleans Saints LB Jonathan Vilma left his job as an ESPN college football analyst to join the Fox Sports NFL broadcasting team.

New Orleans Saints fans will hear a familiar voice calling games this fall. Super Bowl XLIV-winning linebacker Jonathan Vilma left his role as an ESPN college football analyst for the opportunity to call NFL games with FOX Sports, Andrew Marchand reported for The New York Post.

Vilma is expected to replace Ronde Barber in the booth next to veteran play-by-play broadcaster Kenny Albert. No. 51 previously co-hosted a college football Saturday pregame show with Mark Sanchez on ABC (in partnership with ESPN and Disney) while sometimes appearing on ESPN’s weekday morning shows.

Obviously, this wasn’t an opportunity he could pass up. Vilma has held his own in booth and panel settings as an analyst, but offering color commentary on games is new ground.

FOX is set to broadcast 10 Saints games this year, as well as their Week 2 preseason game with the Pittsburgh Steelers (which will be nationally-broadcast). That includes their season opener with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, their midseason rematch with the San Francisco 49ers, and this year’s Christmas Day game against Minnesota Vikings. Not a bad slate to start with for a rookie broadcaster.

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DAZN’s Brian Kenny to do blow-by-blow for Wilder-Ortiz II PPV

Brian Kenny will take up the play-by-play role for Fox’s upcoming PPV broadcast of the heavyweight title fight, Wilder-Ortiz II.

If only the fighters could move as freely between networks.

Fox’s pay-per-view show featuring the heavyweight title fight between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz on Saturday will include a different – but familiar – voice on the broadcast.

Veteran Brian Kenny, who currently works for rival streaming platform DAZN, will assume the blow-by-blow role alongside analysts Joe Goossen and Lennox Lewis, according to a release.

Fox normally rotates between Chris Myers and Kenny Albert for its blow-by-blow duties but both of them are tied up with NFL assignments, according to a member of Fox’s PR team.

By bringing in Kenny, who also works for the MLB Network, Fox gets a familiar name with a deep boxing background.

Kenny worked on a few PBC on Fox broadcasts from 2015 to 2017. He also has done boxing work for ESPN.