Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms will no longer co-host “The NFL Today” on CBS.
James Brown, Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher will remain on the show, and will be joined this season by former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, according to the New York Post.
Brown, Cowher, Esiason and Simms were all at the end of their current contracts this year, leading many — including the Post — to speculate that changes might be in the wind for the show’s hosting lineup.
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Esiason will remain as co-host on WFAN’s morning show, however, and in fact announced on the show that he had signed a long-term contract with the station.
Boomer Esiason announces he is leaving The NFL Today on CBS, but signed an extension to continue his WFAN morning show with Gio pic.twitter.com/91E0OzmGx9
Sean McManus, who was the CBS Sports chairman who hired Esiason back in 2001, is leaving that position this year, according to the Post.
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“The guy who hired me back in 2001 was a guy by the name of Sean McManus, who was the CBS Sports Chairman,” Esiason said. “I never in my wildest dreams it would have lasted 22 years. With all the people that I’ve worked with CBS and the ‘NFL Today’ it’s been an amazing run.”
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He added that his leaving was “more their decision than maybe mine,” according to the Post.
Simms, who had been with CBS even longer than Esiason, announced the news of his departure in a post to X.
“Great 26 yrs run with CBS SPORTS,” he wrote.
“Even though that part of my career is over I look forward to what is next,” he added.
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Great 26 yrs run with CBS SPORTS. Even though that part of my career is over I look forward to what is next..
Simms told the Post that he wasn’t sure what was next, but that he planned to say around professional football in some capacity.
“I’m never going to get out of it,” he said. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t go back to CBS. But I’m definitely going to continue to work with or in the NFL — somewhere, somehow, whatever it is.
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“I’m just not going to go, ‘OK, I’m done. I’m retired,'” Simms added.
Several X users suggested in response to Simms’ post that he and Esiason should launch a podcast together.
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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of "WJ Live," powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.
George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English as well as a Master's in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.
