NFLer Keyshawn Johnson Retires, Joins ESPN Football Crew

Johnson Joining ESPN As NFL Analyst

NFLer Keyshawn Johnson announced his retirement yesterday and will join ESPN as an NFL studio analyst this fall. Johnson will appear weekly on “Sunday NFL Countdown” and “Monday Night Countdown.” He also will appear on a new ESPN Radio show hosted weekly during the season by Chris Mortensen and Johnson’s former coach, Bill Parcells (Fridays at 7:00pm), and he will contribute a weekly column on ESPN.com. Much like former NFLer Tiki Barber’s deal with NBC, Johnson will not be solely focused on football, as he plans to present personality and issue-oriented features on both ESPN and ABC. He also will serve as a guest host on ESPN and ESPN Radio (John Ourand, THE DAILY). Johnson said during a conference call, “The opportunity to transition from active player to broadcaster at the level of ESPN and ABC was too great to pass up” (N.Y. POST, 5/24). Johnson’s agent, Jerome Stanley, said Johnson will be “at the forefront” at ESPN and ABC and is being considered for “Dancing With the Stars” and as a fill-in on “Live With Regis & Kelly” (L.A. TIMES, 5/24).