- Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms are on CBS Sports’ NFL Pregame Show
- Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is reported to be a replacement
- DailyMail.com provides the latest international sports news.
Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms are on CBS Sports’ NFL pregame show, the former NFL MVP and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback revealed on his daily radio show.
“More his decision than maybe mine,” Esiason, 63, said of CBS, before naming the executive who brought him to the network. “I was there for 22 years. The guy who hired me in 2001 was a guy named Sean McManus, who was the president of CBS Sports… Never in my wildest dreams would I have lasted 22 years. “With all the people I’ve worked with at CBS and ‘NFL Today’ it’s been an incredible career.”
McManus will step down as president of CBS Sports this year, which may have prompted the departures of Simms and Esiason.
Simms, 68, a two-time Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants, confirmed the news on X: ‘Great 26-year career with CBS SPORTS. Although that part of my career is over, I look forward to what’s next.”
Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan will be chosen as the replacement, CBS Sports announced Monday.
Phil Simms (right) and Boomer Esiason (left) were two of the top QBs of the 1980s and 1990s.
TMZ reports that former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is being chosen as a replacement.
“I grew up watching ‘The NFL Today,’ so I’m honored to join this iconic show and look forward to continuing the high standard set by Phil, Boomer and others before me,” Ryan said. “I’m grateful for this exciting new opportunity and can’t wait to get started with my new teammates.”
McManus’ retirement marks the end of an era for CBS Sports.
His most notable accomplishments were returning the NFL to the network in 1998 and partnering with Turner Sports to carry the NCAA Tournament in 2010.
CBS was in many ways in the sports wilderness between 1994 and 1997, when it didn’t have the NFL. It decimated the sports division and caused CBS to drop from first to third place in prime-time ratings and switch affiliates between stations in major cities.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who was with CBS Sports from 1997 to 2008, said not a day went by in his first year that he and McManus didn’t talk about bringing back the NFL.
‘For someone who just got there, they really trusted him. The real skill was Sean motivating CBS leaders to get the deal done,” he said.
CBS’ winning bid in 1998 was $500 million a year, and the deal allowed for the recreation of ‘The NFL Today,’ which soon hired Esiason and Simms.
Simms (left) and Esiason (right) ranked among the best quarterbacks in football in the 1980s.
CBS Sports President Sean McManus hired Esiason and Simms, but is now retiring
(From left) Simms, Brown, Cowher, Burleson, Watt and Esiason are seen at Super Bowl LVIII
The network’s current deal extends through 2033 at a rate of $2.1 billion per season. With the help of the NFL to promote programming, CBS once again became the leading network in prime time.
“It’s almost impossible, probably insurmountable, to have a broadcast network without the NFL,” McManus said. ‘It promotes all its distribution agreements. It is a promotional vehicle. That’s huge. And I think the current broadcast model depends heavily on sports in general and the NFL in particular.”
McManus leaves CBS with all of its critical properties locked up for the long term. In addition to the NFL and March Madness, the NWSL extends through 2027, the Big Ten and UEFA Champions League rights extend through the 2029-30 season, while the PGA Tour and PGA Championship deals don’t expire until 2030.
“It’s the right time,” McManus said. “I think it’s good for the division and it’s very good for me.”
