woody

A former coach that Browns fans called “Mangina” and a former player with a last named of Woody. Somehow I veered away from an immature title to this article and played it straight.

Every year ESPN reshuffles their lineup of analysts covering a sport and this year have added former Jets and Browns coach Eric Mangini as well and former Jet’s lineman Damien Woody. ESPN had this to say in regards to Mangini’s particular role.

“He will appear on “NFL Live,” “SportsCenter,” “First Take” and other programs throughout the year and also will contribute analysis on ESPN Radio and other platforms. He is scheduled to start Aug. 17.”

Woody will apparently have a similar beat although will not do radio and will spend some time on ESPN News as well.

ESPN has increasingly shown preference to adding recently removed head coaches as guys like Herm Edwards and Jon Gruden have been well received by viewers. Mangini’s addition will give ESPN a second former coach as a studio analyst with Gruden mostly utilized on Monday Night Football.

Woody’s addition had been speculated for awhile, even by himself when interviewed by the NFL Live crew last week in regards to the new CBA and if he’d play another year or would be wearing a suit as an analyst.

 

Woody follows the path of dozens of former athletes who do a hybrid announcement of a retirement and new career. Like many athletes who move to broadcasting, Woody likely might have had some twilight years ahead of him but instead opted for a coveted job at ESPN. Most guys prefer the security of finding a new job and staying engaged with the sport they love, but as we’ve seen with Tiki Barber, there seems to be some level of regret as players abruptly put an end to their careers.

I haven’t seen much of either Mangini or Woody on camera so it remains to be seen what to expect from these guys in their rookie years at Bristol. It’s also interesting we haven’t heard too much about departures from ESPN’S NFL team, thus there is some intrigue as to just how they’ll make room or reduce others roles on camera.

Also interesting is that Woody hasn’t necessarily been the biggest fan of Mangini saying this about his former head coach upon the arrival of Rex Ryan.

“Here I am 31 years old, I’ve got my own kids, and I’m married, and here’s someone that’s not that much older than me — or whatever the case may be — telling me what I can and can’t do,” Woody said. “It’s so regimented where the game is just not a game anymore. It’s not fun. Even when you win it’s not fun.”

On another note, the media really loves guy from the AFC/NFC East and AL/NL East. Rodney Harrison, Woody, Mangini, Darren Woodson, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Tiki Barber, Phil Simms, Aaron Boone, Normar, Curt Schilling, Steve Phillips, John Kruk, David Justice, Doug Glanville, Bobby Valentine, Larry Bowa, Tino Martinez, and Buck Martinez. Lots of those guys are gone now but sheesh that’s a lot of names.  Who says there’s an East Coast bias…

About Ben Koo

Owner and editor of @AwfulAnnouncing. Recovering Silicon Valley startup guy. Fan of Buckeyes, A's, dogs, naps, tacos. and the old AOL dialup sounds