Andrew Marchand was on with BMitch & Finlay earlier this week, but he also had a column in The Athletic as well that said ESPN is planning to shake up Monday Night Football pregame coverage, and Robert Griffin III might be on the outs, with Jason Kelce a hot rumor to replace him.
“Is Robert not on good terms anymore? Because he's really the college football guy, but I think he was good with his analysis of games,” BMitch said of that report. “Maybe that's why he's going with those outlandish takes, trying to hold on to that thing? I like Scott Van Pelt, and I think Jason would be great.”
“Pushing the podcast…create your own content, man, I get that,” JP replied. “I think Jason Kelce would be really good, and he's based in the northeast where all these networks are, which would be a lot easier.”
The report says RG3’s ‘had been viewed as a rising star, but he has leveled off, putting him at serious risk of being out on Mondays.’
“It’s one thing when you're calling a game, but it's different than everything else, and you have to be able to transition,” BMitch said. “People ask me all the time if I liked punt return or kick return better, and I liked both because they're different, just like radio and TV. Calling a game is one thing, but when you're doing a show where you have to hold people's attention, you can lose them with an outlandish take, or if you go away from the topic that's being discussed. When he does shows, he does that a lot.”
“When you're calling a game, you have to be locked into the game. The product people are watching is the game; that’s the star, and you are there to highlight it and provide insight and analysis,” JP added. “But when you do these studio shows, people want to be the star. It’s interesting; I think when Robert is talking football, he's really good, but the other stuff sometimes seems kind of extra.”
Landfill isn’t surprised by the reports, and to JP, maybe RG3 pushing his own brand and content is telling.
“The thing about the pushing your own podcast is you get all the money,” BMitch said. “You might front the cost, but when we do stuff, we get the end of it. If you get the whole 100 percent, you make a lot more.”