The 61-year-old Berman will step down as host of ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown,” “Monday Night Countdown” and “NFL Primetime” after Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5, ESPN announced Thursday.
Berman, who joined ESPN only a month after its founding in 1979, will also give up his roles anchoring ESPN’s NFL Draft and MLB Home Run Derby coverage.
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Berman’s contract was up after this NFL season. But the six-time national sportscaster of the year has signed a new multi-year contract extension that will keep him in Bristol in an “emeritus”-type role.
Said ESPN in a statement:
With his whoops, yells and player nicknames (Jake “Daylight Come and You Gotta” Delhomme), the gravelly-voiced Berman stood out from the staid broadcasters who came before him in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Berman and retired partner Tom Jackson super-charged NFL highlights with their “NFL Primetime” show from 1987-2006.
For a new generation of football fans and fantasy players, they brought the league and its stars alive the way Howard Cosell did on his halftime highlights on ABC’s old “Monday Night Football.”
Primetime had the best music since the orchestral sound of NFL Films.
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Berman is “one of a kind” said ESPN chief John Skipper in a statement. Nobody helped the cable sports network connect better with viewers than “Boomer.”
Here’s Jackson talking about his instant “chemistry” with Berman during a recent video interview. Berman
Tom Jackson’s Tribute to Chris Berman from ESPNFrontRow on Vimeo.
