Sacked: Joe Theismann Out, Ron Jaworski In At “MNF”

Jaworski (l) Joining ESPN’s “MNF” Next Season

ESPN will announce during a conference call today that Ron Jaworski will replace Joe Theismann as an “MNF” booth analyst next season. He will team with Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser in the booth, and Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya will return as sideline reporters. ESPN says Theismann has been offered “a prominent football analyst role” with the network (THE DAILY). In N.Y., Pat Reichart writes one possible reason for the move is the net’s “desire to find an analyst more compatible with Kornheiser, who seemed reserved last season in his banter with Theismann” (N.Y. POST, 3/26). A source said that ESPN “based its decision on performance issues, likely stemming from the tension created by the Theismann-Kornheiser pairing” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/26). USA TODAY’s Michael Hiestand writes Kornheiser and Theismann “did not mesh.” Hiestand: “In today’s atmosphere where being an astute observer and entertaining showman can trump having actually played or coached a sport, Theismann was apparently deemed relatively expendable” (USA TODAY, 3/26).