There has been a lot of speculation about who will fill the Monday night football booth this year Once ESPN decided to move on from Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland, but dropped names like Peyton Manning, it slowed things down a bit (especially when ESPN decided to keep things at home).
Now, we have an answer, more or less, thanks to Jim Miller, who reported that Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick will be the new ESPN team:
Audience: New booth of @NFL_MNF: @espnSteveLevy @briangriese @LRiddickESPN 2nd game @steelers vs. @Giants @cbfowler @KirkHerbstreit (If the college football season is canceled, this could change)
– James Andrew Miller (@ JimMiller) July 31, 2020
Miller cleared up her tweet a bit with a follow-up:
*. @ Giants vs. @steelers is the first game with @cbfowler &. @KirkHerbstreit
– James Andrew Miller (@ JimMiller) July 31, 2020
So based on that, Fowler and Herbstreit will be calling up at least one MNF game, and it’s actually going to be the season debut, Giants vs. Steelers at 7:15 PM ET. Then the back half of the Titans-Broncos at 10 PM will be Levy, Griese and Riddick, who in hindsight is an obvious group. Along with Laura Rutledge, those three were chosen to work on last year’s doubleheader, and Levy and Griese have years of experience together calling college games for ESPN.
Richard Deitsch confirmed Miller’s report:
You can confirm the excellent scoop on @ JimMiller:
Louis Riddick will be a Monday Night Football analyst this fall. Great news for those of us who have appreciated your preparation and honesty on the air for years.
– Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) July 31, 2020
However, the only variable left is Miller’s note that the college football season left in jeopardy could have an impact on the final decision. That would seem to imply that Fowler and Herbstreit could wind up at the MNF booth if they don’t have college games to work on this fall. Having them set up for a game makes sense, as ESPN can essentially flip a switch and keep Fowler and Herbstreit going in the future. And even if they finish just a week this year, it could still serve up a useful audition if ESPN decides to turn things around again after this season.
Hopefully Louis Riddick ends up in the booth anyway. When Awful Announcing did a roundtable on who should be on the booth, our Matt Clapp summed up Riddick’s strengths and appeal:
I’ll keep saying (just like last year’s round table on Jason Witten’s replacement), just put Louis Riddick on the booth.
Riddick has an excellent footballing mind (and has interviewed for NFL GM positions), and he breaks the game down exceptionally well for any football fan to appreciate. He speaks well and brings enough personality where he will not bore the viewer. It’s the safest choice, which should mean a lot to ESPN after how many times they’ve ruined this engagement. And it would probably end up being the best option, especially if ESPN only has internal options.
So after months of debate, discussion and reporting, we now have our answer: The ESPN Monday Night Football team is Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick.
(Unless it is not)
