Disney hovers over every decision at ESPN.
And my mistakes are always the highlights on ESPN’s ‘SportsCenter.’
I’m not an agate type ESPN Sports Center highlight, in-your-face kind of a sports fan.
Am I mad about Deflategate? I feel like I’m on ESPN with that question… Yeah, yeah, I’m kind of mad.
Some people see ESPN. They see the long shots. They see me scoring the basketball, but they don’t show often too many assists – and I’ve been doing that my whole career, being able to get the ball to the guy at the right time.
Remember one thing about ESPN: People can be critical of them sometimes for being a large corporation but nine years ago I had a stroke and I couldn’t talk. That’s the way I made my living. ESPN could’ve dumped me very easy, but they didn’t. They helped me and presented me an opportunity to get back on the air.
I don’t know why ESPN asked me to host the ESPYs. I think that they realize we, over at WWE, can engage a live audience. We certainly have an enormous following.
ESPN has this problem with sports, it’s impossible to fill 24 hours with sports programming so they have to resort to things like poker and arm wrestling tournaments.
ESPN is a very, very good operation, and it’s a gold mine. It’s an even bigger gold mine than Fox News.
I have tremendous brand experience. What I do a lot for Disney is manage the great brands of this company, whether it’s Disney, ESPN, ABC, Pixar, Marvel, ‘Star Wars.’ And I’m very engaged in technology and its impact on the consumer, either what experience you deliver for them or how to market and sell to them.
Going to a powerhouse high school, playing on ESPN a couple times a year, playing a nationally ranked schedule and also playing in the best conference in the world in high school, I was lucky. We’d have no less than nine guys go Division 1 every year.
When I as a fan and a viewer tune into ESPN, I don’t want politics and I don’t want to look at a person and have to think politics.
I’m passionate about the game – just like the fans are, and I’ve coached in the league for a long time, so that’s the perspective I will bring to ESPN.
I really like ESPN. They do a great job.
Even as voters, we try to keep up with the guys as much as possible, mainly through television or ESPN.
It’s almost out of sight out of mind because there’s so many cards. One great fight could happens one weekend and another great fight happens next weekend, you kind of get swallowed up in that pack. So you have to find a way to separate yourself and what better way to do that than on ESPN?
I thought I wanted to be on ESPN, but I didn’t know what the heck it was. I knew it was sports television, but we didn’t have it. We didn’t really watch TV growing up.
People ask me, ‘What’s it like to leave ESPN?’ and I say, ‘I’m not leaving ESPN. I’m leaving ESPNU.’ That’s what I was on. That network doesn’t even have a sales staff.
And then ESPN fired me. I did not think that was a fitting punishment.
I just didn’t fit the stereotypes of gay men. I was an ESPN addict as far back as elementary school. I’d also had early crushes on girls.
I love my life. I love this ESPN thing; it’s been fun.
I truly believe that ESPN has been in the forefront in terms of the diversity in front of the camera and improving the balance between men and women.
Besides my work doing NFL analysis and commentary for ESPN, I’m also involved in trying to get new products launched, and I have relationships with other companies to try to get things off the ground.
The only job I’d consider leaving ESPN for would be to call NFL games.
I think one of the innate challenges that comes with being on ESPN is that it is a sports network. It is an entertainment space largely, and because of that – as should be the case – politics aren’t expected to be addressed in a meaningful way at a sports network.
I watch ESPN all day. If you come into my trailer, ESPN is on. That’s the first thing I do when I leave the set.
I have such respect for the guys at ESPN.
This media era is amazing. Twitter, Facebook, ESPN, news outlets everywhere.
I reflect on my 30 years at ESPN and continue to count my blessings each time I walk on the ‘College Gameday’ set.
I’m thinking about being the best I can be at ESPN in the studio.
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