James Brown is the last man standing on CBS’ NFL Today from the crew he joined in 2006.
After watching analysts like Shannon Sharpe, Dan Marino and Bart Scott come and go over the years, Brown and the NFL Today crew bid farewell to two more longtime CBS analysts this summer: Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms.
Simms joined the studio show in 2017 after replacing Tony Romo in the top broadcast booth, while Esiason’s more than two-decade tenure on the show even predated Brown’s. CBS replaced them with youngsters JJ Watt and Matt Ryan this season.
In an interview on the SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina ahead of Week 8 of the NFL season, Brown explained what made Simms and Esiason “an integral part” of NFL Today and his approach to shepherding the show forward with a younger staff.
“Absolutely yes,” Brown said of the disappearance of Esiason and Sims. “And we acknowledge that and stay in touch with them. They also understand that Boomer and Phil have been an integral part of what we’ve done and the relationships we have. No one has tried harder than Phil Simms at knowing all the Xs and Os. He’s a gym rat in that regard. Can For Boomer Esiason to talk about any aspect of this, because he has good experience in the sport in general brought a lot of value.”
During the first pregame show of the season, NFL Today praised Esiason and Simms for their prolific careers at CBS.
While the changes threw a wrench in what had been a reasonably stable format for years, Brown praised CBS executives for handling the transition smoothly.
“To give CBS a tip of the hat…how many teams have you seen with some veteran players that have done well, but at some point, you have young talent that you bring in,” Brown said. “The key is finding that happy medium and balance. You have a veteran who’s still performing well, who has some utility and value, but also has value in showing them what it means to be a professional, and he’s a model of that. Getting them in a relationship with a young talent to groom them.” “This is important.”
Last May, Esiason, 63, called his departure “natural” and said he had no ill will toward anyone at CBS. However, Esiason added that he does not think Sims wants to leave.
Sims confirmed this, telling Front Office Sports that he “loved” working on the show but wasn’t surprised CBS moved on.
Watt was waiting in the wings after a part-time role on the show in 2023 while Ryan hopped out of the broadcast booth.
Brown credited the two recently retired NFL stars for their professionalism in taking over for a lifetime.
“To their credit, JJ Watt and Matt Ryan realize that, and we acknowledged that, at least in the first two weeks of the show,” Brown said. “But we all knew we were there to do a job and deliver what the leadership wanted to get out of this move and deliver what they expected.”
After years of a stellar cast and format, CBS is finally making a shot in 2024. The show’s producers spoke with Awful Annoncing ahead of the season about revamping its studio and the chemistry between the new cast, and it sure feels fresh.
As the NFL season continues, we should have a good idea whether the overhaul has allowed CBS to attract viewers from Fox, ESPN and NFL Network.
[SI Media Podcast]
