People & Personalities: Dilfer Lauded For Post-Super Bowl Analysis

In N.Y., Bob Raissman notes ESPN NFL analyst Trent Dilfer immediately after Sunday's Packers-Steelers Super Bowl XLV was "given the unenviable task of going on the air, without the aid of game highlights, and answering questions from the two ESPN anchors in the Bristol studio." However, Dilfer was "not just killing time before 'NFL Primetime,' he was making an impact." On a night "during which many analysts tried to diminish" former Packers QB Brett Favre's accomplishments, Dilfer said there is a "flip side" to the situation. Dilfer: "We can't cheapen what Brett Favre did in Green Bay for all those years by saying that now [QB Aaron] Rodgers has replaced him as the best Packers quarterback." Raissman writes Dilfer "deserves a permanent seat at the big boy's table on ESPN's Sunday 'NFL Countdown'" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/8).

PARTING WAYS: The GUARDIAN's Matt Scott reported former Sky Sports soccer analyst Andy Gray "has reportedly agreed [to] a settlement with Sky following the termination of his contract after videos of his sexist behaviour were leaked on the internet." Gray "had been suspended following an off-air conversation with his co-presenter, Richard Keys, in which they questioned the ability of women" to officiate games. There had been "talk of Gray expecting to receive a payment of between" about US$4.8-6.4M from Sky, but a London Daily Mail report stated Gray was "offered and accepted a much smaller sum from his employer of 20 years." A Sky source said the payout to Gray "really is a mere fraction" of $6.4M (GUARDIAN.co.uk, 2/6). 

ON THE BRINK OF AN EXIT: Sports columnist John Feinstein on his blog noted his last column for The Sporting News "appears in the next edition of the magazine." Feinstein noted he got a call last Tuesday from someone who "told me that now that Sporting News has acquired AOL Fanhouse, the company wants to, 'maximize our assets,' by using the fulltime columnists working at Fanhouse in the magazine." Feinstein wrote, "I'll get over it. But I will hold a grudge" (FEINSTEINONTHEBRINK.com, 2/3).

CONFLICTED ANALYST: In St. Petersburg, Tom Jones wrote it is "bothersome that ESPN did not have an issue with" new college football analyst Urban Meyer "working for the network while having financial ties with Florida," which have since been cut due to concerns of NCAA violations. Every analyst "of a team sport on television played or coached somewhere," but the "difference is those analysts are not still being paid by their former teams." Jones: "Just the appearance of a conflict undermines the credibility of an analyst and the network, and there's no bigger conflict than an analyst being paid millions by the program they occasionally analyze" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 2/4).