Legendary SportsCenter host John Anderson said goodbye to ESPN for the final time on Friday night with an emotional moment alongside his longtime colleague Steve Levy.
The network dedicated the final segment of its Friday night broadcast of its flagship show to the outgoing Anderson, with cameos from hosts who have worked with him over the past 25 years.
Tributes came from Levy himself, Linda Cohn, Jay Harris, David Lloyd and many more.
Anderson is taking up a position at his alma mater, Missouri, as chair of the university’s school of broadcast journalism.
Before the cameras turned off and moved on to another show, Anderson thanked everyone at the network.
John Anderson signed off on his final SportsCenter episode Friday night on ESPN
“I’m really grateful. You could name a billion people who have been great here, actually more like thousands,” Anderson began.
“But if (former ESPN vice president) Al Jaffe doesn’t hire me, like a lot of us, none of this will happen. So we’ll be left with Al Jaffe and then everyone who came after that, I’m grateful,” Anderson said.
“I was telling people I’d like to do this as a regular show and then ease into the evening,” Anderson added.
Levy replied, “How’s that going?”
“I think we’ve done it,” Anderson said sarcastically. “I think this was classically underrated the whole time and I was just able to walk away.”
Anderson stopped joking and turned serious in his final seconds on air.
“I’m indebted to a lot of people. I’ve always said that Linda Cohn helped me make my career here because she was the first person I sat down with and she was a ‘done’ guy, so I had instant credibility,” Anderson said.
“And then when I started working with you, it was even more, because I was by your side and everyone knows Steve “TV” Levy,” Anderson continued. And I benefited greatly from being by your side so many times.
“We had a lot of good times, except for the night we were here and it was a 22-inning game in San Diego. But I don’t have to worry about that anymore because (ESPN host) Zubin (Mehenti) will be doing all my shows,” Anderson concluded.
As the credits rolled, Anderson and Levy hugged each other, and both were emotional at the time.