Warner in running for ‘MNF’

There’s at least one Super Bowl-winning quarterback left in the running for the Monday Night Football analyst gig. Kurt Warner has had multiple conversations with ESPN, and the Hall of Fame inductee remains among the narrowing list of candidates to replace Jon Gruden, a person with knowledge of the discussions told USA TODAY. The person, granted anonymity because of the sensitive nature of talks, also said Warner is getting “serious consideration” for the job. ESPN had already sought out Peyton Manning and Brett Favre as potential replacements for Gruden, who had called Monday night games for the previous nine seasons and left ESPN to take over as head coach of the Raiders. Manning passed on the job, and Favre, who per a New York Post report had a less-than-spectacular audition, said on Twitter this week that he was unsure he wanted to pursue broadcasting. Steve Young, who serves as an analyst on the MNF pregame show, said this year that he’s not interested, citing the time commitment required. Warner has been an analyst on NFL Network since 2010. He played 12 seasons in the NFL, leading the Rams to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer. ESPN doesn’t appear to be in any rush to name a Gruden replacement or the one left open in the booth when it was announced play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough would go back to calling college games.