Buck (l) is expected on board, despite a busy fall schedule that includes the MLB playoffsgetty images
Fox is "closing in on a deal" to put Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the new "TNF" package, according to sources cited by Andrew Marchand of the N.Y. POST. Buck and Aikman will continue as Fox’ "top Sunday team, but will have some Sundays off under the new plan." With Fox having offered Peyton Manning around $4M per year for the 13-game schedule, sources said that Aikman "felt if Fox were going to spend big on Manning, that he deserved to be dealt with the same." Aikman’s position was "strengthened by Fox having no apparent alternative." Buck is "expected on board as well, despite a very busy fall schedule that includes the baseball playoffs." A deal with Buck is "anticipated, but it isn’t as far down the road as Aikman’s." The duo is "expected to do the first two games that will be only on NFL Network" (N.Y. POST, 5/11).
MANIC MONDAYS: ESPN on Thursday formally unveiled the new "MNF" announce team, and play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore called his new gig a "legacy job." He said, "I am very conscious of that lineage." The 46-year-old Tessitore is the oldest member of what he calls "a young, vibrant crew." He said, "When I got the call that I would be doing this, my first reaction was remembering when I was a kid watching Frank Gifford, Dandy Don (Meredith) and Howard Cosell. ... I did a Cosell imitation that had my grandfather, who didn't speak English, laughing his tail off." Tessitore believes booth analyst Jason Witten "will be a natural" in his new role (AP, 5/10). Witten said, "I'm going to be objective, and if I fail at that, then I'm failing the viewer and I'm failing ESPN" (STAR-TELEGRAM.com, 5/10).
