He won’t be doing the heavy lifting on ESPN’s NFL coverage anymore, but Chris Berman will still have a presence. While Samantha Ponder will host Sunday NFL Countdown and Suzy Kolber will front Monday Night Countdown, Berman won’t be home watching TV. He’ll host a weekly segment on Monday Night Countdown called “Boomer’s Vault.”
What is it? He told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that “Boomer’s Vault” will be a three-minute segment that will be part of a season-long tribute to Monday Night Football which is the longest-running primetime sports series on television.
“I’m not going to have a physical presence on ‘Countdown’ now, and this was an idea we all came up with at ESPN,” Berman said. “ ‘Why don’t we do something to remind us of amazing events that have taken place surrounding “Monday Night Football”?’
“They opened up the vault, close to a half-century of games, and told me to pick the story.”
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“I picked this for the first ‘Boomer’s Vault’ a few weeks ago. And now with what Harvey has done to Houston … it’s amazing that will be the first one.”
As far as what games will be selected and the rules for the segment, Berman said the only rule is to “evoke memories.”
The first “Boomer’s Vault” will air during Monday Night Countdown on September 11. This is Berman’s first season not hosting the NFL for ESPN since the network began as a rightsholder in 1987. He’s keeping busy following his wife’s death. The Star-Tribune says Berman was playing golf in Ireland this week and is preparing to call the MLB Postseason on ESPN Radio next week.
But the main thing is that we’ll see Berman every Monday for three minutes evoking memories on the history of Monday Night Football.
