Two in booth again for ‘MNF’
Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland will be together for ESPN broadcast.
ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” will return to a two-man booth when it kicks off its 50th season later this year.
The network announced Wednesday that Joe Tessitore will be back doing play-by-play while Booger McFarland moves 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.
Stephanie Druley, ESPN’s executive vice president for event and studio production, said the chemistry between Tessitore and McFarland 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 Indianapolis and Tampa Bay, is the only former defensive player to be the lead analyst on a network’s top team. He said in a statement that he is happy for the opportunity to be in the booth and to continue working with Tessitore and Salters.
“Monday Night Football” had a three-man booth for all but 12 of its first 49 seasons. The first time the series had a two-man booth was 1986 with Al Michaels and Frank Gifford. Other two-man booths featured Michaels and Boomer Esiason (1999), Michaels and John Madden (2002-05), Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden (2012-15) and Sean McDonough and Gruden (2016-17).
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