Since the NFL season ended, ESPN has been searching for a new duo to lead Monday Night Football in 2020. First, they tried to sign Peyton Manning, then Tony Romo and tried to recruit Al Michaels, who used to be on Monday Night Football for twenty years. Now, ESPN is replacing Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland with people from within the company, according to The Athletic’sRichard Deitch.
While Tessitore and McFarland will remain with ESPN, it will be interesting to see who replaces them in the MNF booth. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post tweeted that Steve Levy, Brian Grise, Louis Reddick, and Dan Orlovsky are the favorites as replacements.
Of the list provided by Marchand, Steve Levy should lead the Monday Night Football booth. Levy has called Monday Night Football games before, along with the NHL, college football, and, most recently, the XFL. Levy would give Monday Night Football creditability. Something they hadn’t had since Mike Trico when he broadcasted Monday Night Football when it was moved to ESPN from 2006 to 2015.
The next person that ESPN should put in the Monday Night Football booth next to Levy is Pat McAfee. McAfee is a former NFL punter for the Indianapolis Colts from 2009 to 2016. McAfee is a rising star since his retirement and has been working for ESPN since last year and also has his own show on YouTube.
McAfee is a comedian and would give the fans some laughs and insight into the game. Something that ESPN hasn’t had since Jon Gruden. One of McAfee’s best rants was the week one game between the St. Louis BattleHawks and the Dallas Renegades when he went off on the St. Louis’s special teams on a punt that ended up being a touchback.
As for the sideline reporters, Lisa Salters should stay, and the network should add another reporter for the other sidelines. One person that comes to mind who should get the nod is Dianna Russini. She has been featured on ESPN’s NFL Live, NFL Countdown, and SportsCenter. This year, Russini was a sideline reporter for the XFL with Steve Levy, Greg McElroy, and Tom Luginbill. Adding Russini to the MNF crew would be huge and give Salters some help on the sidelines.
Adding these three and keeping Salters will help Monday Night Football in the long run. With Levy and McAfee in the booth, you’re going to get a combination of professionalism and comedy all in one, just like what Trico and Gruden used to do. Over the years, ESPN has been given some bad games and lose fans in the process. Even in bad games, Trico and Gruden could entertain the fans, and a majority of fans would stick around listening to them even if the game was a blowout. At least this year, the NFL has done a better job giving ESPN a better MNF schedule than the last ten years.
