Many media observers assumed that the three-year use of Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on the announcing team for the Week 1 Monday Night Football doubleheader was nothing more than an effort by ESPN to cross-promote a pair of its properties. During the football game, Greenberg and Golic’s radio show gained credibility and exposure. And their daily radio show could be used as a platform for building enhanced national buzz regarding a contest that kicks off after 10:00 p.m. ET.
But there was more to the project. Greenberg openly talked about his desire to work on the Monday night “A” team, and rumblings out of Bristol indicated that they were indeed being considered for that eventual assignment.
The decision to bench the two Mikes and rely on Brad Nessler and Trent Dilfer for this year’s Chargers-Chiefs game, which was explained by Rosenthal yesterday in the kind of colorfully off-color terms that will cause his writing to be confused with mine (for better or worse), means that Greenberg and Golic most likely aren’t in the mix to secure the week-to-week assignment.
It also means that Dilfer likely has inched into the on-deck circle, behind Ron Jaworski.
Indeed, Jaworski’s current job as MNF analyst was preceded by a stint with the very same Brad Nessler, working the second half of the first-ever Monday night doubleheader in 2006.
Dilfer, in many ways, is a younger version of the 59-year-old Jaworski. They both have a passion for film study, and when Dilfer gets rolling he uses inflections that remind us of Jaworski.
So keep an eye on Dilfer. If he stays on this new track, he’ll eventually be replacing Jaworski. And, barring an unexpected change, Mike and Mike’s Monday night aspirations have forever ended.
Feel free to thank whichever deity you worship.
Still, the three-year experiment wasn’t a total waste. Without it, cameras never would have captured the rearrangement of furniture that occurred in the booth when Mike and Mike were joined by another Mike.
