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5 replacements for Mike Tirico on Monday Night Football

By John Buhler

Jan 15, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Broadcast announcer Mike Tirico before a game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 15, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Broadcast announcer Mike Tirico before a game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 19: Sportscaster Brent Musburger appears before a game between the New Mexico Lobos and the UNLV Rebels at the Thomas
LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 19: Sportscaster Brent Musburger appears before a game between the New Mexico Lobos and the UNLV Rebels at the Thomas /

5. Brent Musburger

One candidate that could be an effective short-term replacement for Tirico in the Monday Night Football booth should Disney promote from within is long-time play-by-play man Brent Musburger. While he will be 77 years old during the 2016 NFL season, he is at least a marquee broadcasting name that could keep ESPN fanatics interested while they search for a long-term solution for the departing Tirico.

Musburger does play-by-play for ESPN in two capacities before the Tirico departure. Musburger does booth work for the SEC Network calling football games with color commentary partner in former Florida Gators and New York Giants quarterback Jesse Palmer. The long-time play-by-play announcer also does college basketball games on ESPN.

While it has been a LONG time since Musburger has done anything NFL related, he did play-by-play for CBS in the mid-1970s and once hosted NFL Today also with CBS from 1975 to 1989. He’s been doing what he does for a very long time, covering sports from football, basketball, golf, and soccer.

Putting Musburger in the booth with Gruden would be interesting to say the very least. He’s likely not even in the realistic discussion due to both age and over 25 years removed from covering the NFL regularly.

However, if Disney has to promote from within to replace Tirico on Monday Night Football for a year or two in the absolute worst case scenario, Musburger couldn’t be as bad as Dennis Miller was years ago on ABC, right? At least Musburger is a name.

Next: 4. Joe Tessitore

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