ESPN: Booger headed upstairs
ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” will return to a twoman booth when it kicks off its 50th season in September. The network announced Wednesday that Joe Tessitore will be back doing play-by-play for the long-running NFL telecast and
Booger McFarland will move up to the booth after being a field-level analyst. ESPN also announced that Lisa Salters will return for an eighth season as the sideline reporter after signing a multiyear extension. “Monday Night Football” had a three-man booth for all but 12 of its first 49 seasons. Stephanie Druley, ESPN’s executive vice president for event and studio production, said the chemistry between McFarland and Tessitore was the biggest reason for moving McFarland upstairs. Before “Monday Night Football,” the two worked together when ESPN launched the SEC Network and had them on its Saturday pregame show. McFarland, who played nine seasons in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is the only former defensive player to be the lead analyst on a network’s top team. He said in a release announcing the moves that he is happy for the opportunity to be in the booth and to continue working with Salters and Tessitore. Jason Witten, the former NFL tight end who was in the booth last season, decided in February to end his retirement and return to the Dallas Cowboys. Druley said ESPN reached out to
Peyton Manning — like Witten, he is a former University of Tennessee standout — to gauge his interest, but nothing further resulted.
› KNOXVILLE — Tennessee Volunteers offensive lineman Eric Crosby said he’s giving up football for health reasons. In a post to Twitter on Wednesday, Crosby wrote he has spent the past year dealing with a knee injury that put him in “constant daily pain.” Crosby added he ultimately decided “it is best to medically retire from playing football, to protect my lifelong health.” Rated a four-star prospect by multiple recruiting services when he signed with the Vols out of Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach, Crosby was on the roster the past two seasons but never played in a game. He is the fourth offensive lineman to leave the team for medical reasons since the end of the 2018 season. The others were
Tanner Antonutti, Devante Brooks and Chance Hall, the only one of the four to play at all last season.
BASKETBALL
› OAKLAND, Calif. — Houston Rockets star James Harden’s eyes were still red and stinging well after the final buzzer. He could barely see on the court, let alone read the box score after the game. The reigning league MVP hopes he will feel better with a few days off before his team’s Western Conference semifinal series against Golden State resumes Saturday in Houston with the Rockets trailing 2-0 after a 115-109 loss Tuesday night. Harden scored 29 points on 9-for-19 shooting to go with seven rebounds, four assists and six turnovers. Eye drops he received only helped so much to relieve the discomfort. His eyes were injured with 6:39 left in the first quarter when he and the Warriors’ Draymond Green fought for a loose rebound and Green’s left hand caught Harden in the face. When Harden went to the locker room with 6:27 remaining and a towel over his left eye for a cut, Green patted him on the back and checked to make sure he was OK. Harden returned at the 7:09 mark of the second quarter.