Report: Chris Berman retiring after 2016 NFL season

According to a report, longtime ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman will be stepping down after the 2016 NFL season.

When people think of ESPN, they think of Chris Berman and all of his famous lines and calls during his decades with the company. Berman has been with ESPN since 1979 and he has made NFL coverage quotable and the Home Run Derby worth watching by shouting “BACK!” like a madman on the air.

It looks like this is the final year for those things. According to Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead, Berman is set to make 2016 his final year with the company he help put on the map. Berman will reportedly be stepping down after the 2016 NFL season.

"Chris Berman, the longtime ESPN sportscaster who has been with the company since 1979, is leaving the network after next football season, multiple sources tell The Big Lead. Berman is in the final year of his contract, which ends sometime after next football season. He is expected to retire, rather than leave for another network."

McIntyre also notes in his article that ESPN is expected to give Berman a farewell tour that can be compared to the massive parade of celebrations that the Los Angeles Lakers gave Kobe Bryant before he retired.

There are also a couple of names that are expected to be in the running to take his chair on the”Sunday NFL Countdown” and “Monday Night Countdown” shows. The two expected to be in the running are Trey Wingo and Suzy Kolber.

ESPN has gone through a lot of change this year with plenty of longtime personnel leaving and new personnel coming in. Berman is the latest to be on his way out, but in a manner that he has earned for his decades of loyalty to the sports giant.

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