SEEING STARS
DURING its five decades, “Monday Night Football” has been one of the most prestigious booths in sports media. From Howard Cosell to Al Michaels to John Madden, Monday nights have been filled with legends.
ESPN’s new MNF team of Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland isn’t there yet — and it isn’t clear if it ever will be.
The Cosells, Michaels and Maddens made Monday night feel bigger. Tessitore and McFarland on the call creates more of a Sunday regional broadcast atmosphere than a “Monday Night Football” ambience.
Part of it isn’t their fault. McFarland has shown some strong flashes, but he lacks reps on NFL game broadcasts. Tessitore seems as if he may be a better fit for college than the pros.
Overall, ESPN is going in the right direction, having simplified their approach. The game is center stage instead of the gimmicks. Even with Monday’s Browns-Jets dud, ratings were up 7 percent from last season’s Week 2 game. The noise is quieter around the production.
Last year, they had a threeman formation with Jason Witten in the booth and McFarland billed as an equal, but relegated to the Booger Mobile on the sideline. It felt as if ESPN was overcompensating.
After Witten fled back to the Cowboys, Tessitore and McFarland became a two-man team in the booth with former ref John Parry added to the group.
At times, Tessitore sounds dulled from what brought him to prominence. The “Tess Effect” melded his hype-man style with the special atmosphere of college football. It worked.
The NFL, though, only needs hype when it is called for, so Tessitore introducing us to bigname players is superfluous when it is Jets-Browns as opposed to ArkansasTCU.
He does have strong pipes and can hit the high notes, like when Odell Beckham Jr. made some spectacular plays Monday.
Tessitore can come across like a top prospect who reaches the majors only to have the hitting coach start tinkering with his stance. It is as if ESPN hired him for the Tess Effect, but no longer thinks that fully fits.
McFarland might have the ability to be a top game analyst, but he never called an NFL game before being relegated to the sideline cart.
Without the reps, McFarland is learning on the big stage. He talks too much during the game and tries to make too many grand pronouncements. He needs to let the game breathe at times. He does show the skills that made him a standout in studio.
He trusts himself and can share big opinions. His explanation of the sealed-off blocking on Nick Chubb’s second quarter 19-yard touchdown run was spot on.
His calling out of Browns coach Freddie Kitchens for dropping back Baker Mayfield to pass with less than two minutes remaining and his team up 20 was really good. He called it “inexcusable.” McFarland will blitz where other analysts might punt.
It is kind of a shame that McFarland is on this stage without already having the game reps most analysts, such as Madden and Troy Aikman, have received before stepping to the top of the ladder. Tony Romo, a rookie sensation, is the exception, not the norm. But he is now the standard.
ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” booth issue began years ago when it allowed Mike Tirico to leave for NBC. Former ESPN president John Skipper was slow in negotiations to retain Tirico. NBC gobbled Tirico up, and he now has succeeded Bob Costas as the host of the Olympics and will replace Michaels on “Sunday Night Football” one day.
If ESPN had kept Tirico and Jon Gruden had left, then the idea of Peyton Manning being in the booth would have had a better chance of actually happening. Manning may never go to the booth, but if he does, it would most definitely be with someone like Tirico.
Instead, ESPN’s booth feels as if it is still in a rent-don’t-buy mode. ESPN has its eyes firmly on pursuing a Super Bowl for the 2020s, and with Disney’s family of channels, most notably ABC, they seem like a pretty good bet to get it done.
Romo, meanwhile, has yet to sign a contract with CBS, though CBS is still the favorite to retain him. It even has a right to match offers, but ESPN has been much more willing to spend big for what it wants than CBS has.
Romo is the biggest star in the NFL’s TV business right now. When you put his name next to Cosell’s or Michaels’ or Madden’s, it fits.
Tessitore and McFarland still have a long season to prove their names belong there. ESPN’s production is simpler and smarter this year, but overall it still needs to live up to a half-century of the prestige of “Monday Night Football.”