Last week, ESPN announced new multi-year deals for four of their NFL analysts. This week, they’ve announced new deals for four of their prominent NFL reporters: Ed Werder, Kimberley A. Martin, Dan Graziano, and Jeff Darlington. Those four will join returning reporters Sal Paolantonio and Dianna Russini on ESPN’s various news properties, NFL-specific and general.
ESPN re-signs @ESPNNFL reporters ahead of the #NFL season kickoff
Congrats to @JeffDarlington, @DanGrazianoESPN, @ByKimberleyA & @WerderEdESPN
More: https://t.co/RjCCl6Ox5n pic.twitter.com/6GRGt0H6ka
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 6, 2022
ESPN has a ton invested in NFL coverage across a variety of platforms, from live games (up from 17 to 23 this year with three additional Monday Night Football multi-games (one on ESPN, one on ABC), final-week Saturday doubleheader, and one on ESPN+) to pregame shows Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown to daily shows (including the sport-specific NFL Live and then the general sports SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take and more) to their website. For that, they need a lot of versatile reporters, and the names they’ve announced new multi-year deals for here are some of their bigger ones. Here’s a bit more on each of those newly-extended reporters from ESPN’s release, written by Lily Blum:
Kimberley A. Martin: An NFL reporter for more than a decade, Martin joined ESPN in March 2020 after reporting for numerous high-profile outlets – Yahoo! Sports, where she was a senior NFL writer, the Washington Post, the Buffalo News and Newsday. In conjunction with her NFL reporting, Martin is the co-host of ESPN’s only all-female podcast, “First Take Her Take.” A Brooklyn, NY native, Martin attended Wesleyan University before earning her master’s degree in magazine, newspaper and online journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University.
Ed Werder: A seasoned NFL reporter for over 40 years, 2022 will mark Werder’s 25th year covering the NFL for ESPN. Since 2019, he has been a Dallas-based bureau reporter covering the NFL and the Cowboys, specifically. Prior to ESPN, Werder served as a beat writer covering the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. A native of Colorado, Werder reported for prominent outlets such as Sports Illustrated (1987-95), the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (1989), the Orlando Sentinel (1991) and the Dallas Morning News (1992-96 ).
Dan Graziano: After starting as an NFC East blogger for ESPN in 2011, Graziano was an inaugural member of ESPN’s NFL Nation team in 2013, where he exclusively covered the New York Giants for ESPN.com. Graziano was named an ESPN’s national NFL reporter in 2016. Since 2019, Graziano has also been a regular fill-in host and panelist on ESPN’s Get Up and This Just In. A graduate of Georgetown University, Graziano previously worked at the Palm Beach Post and the Star-Ledger, in his home state of New Jersey.
Jeff Darlington: An Emmy award-winning journalist, Darlington joined ESPN in 2016 and has brought fans exclusive interviews with the game’s biggest newsmakers from Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and other elite stars. Most recently, Darlington’s feature “Hey, Noah,” – the story of a young cancer survivor and Tom Brady – was nominated for a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Long Feature. Based in South Florida, Darlington previously worked at NFL Network as a national reporter, the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post as a Miami Dolphins beat reporter and for the Orlando Sentinel as beat writer for the Florida Gators.
It’s certainly notable to see a lot of ESPN’s prominent NFL reporting talent sticking around. We’ll see how these reporters continue to do there.
