Thursday appeared to be the end of the road for John Anderson’s time on SportsCenter.
A familiar face at the anchor desk for the past 25 years, Anderson announced his retirement earlier this year. He’ll be stepping down from his role at the Worldwide Leader when his contract concludes at the end month.
“My contract runs out at ESPN at the end of June, and I have decided that that will be the end,” Anderson revealed. “I’m gonna leave the company. I’m gonna sorta retire from SportsCenter.”
Anderson said that he’ll continue to have a presence and do “a few” track and field events. He named NCAA track meets, the New York City Marathon, and SEC programming as areas he’ll focus on.
Speaking of programming, Thursday marked the final show that Anderson and Linda Cohn did together. With Anderson in Bristol and Cohn in Los Angeles, the duo combined to host SportsCenter one final time. And with the Phoenix Coyotes becoming the Utah Hockey Club, Anderson made a quip about the name potentially growing on him. Cohn saw that as an opportunity to honor her longtime partner and colleague on the show.
“Let me tell you something, I’ll forgive you for that, but you’ve grown on me,” Cohn told Anderson. “I can’t believe this is it for you with me on SportsCenter. Man, I enjoyed being a teammate of yours, John. You’ve been great.”
“I’m not gonna tear up; I’m just gonna tell you thanks,” replied Anderson. “I tell everybody, without you, I don’t have a career at ESPN. You were accepting from Day 1. I am indebted. I am going to send you half of my 401k.”
He was in Bristol. I was in LA but last night’s @SportsCenter was our final show together. John Anderson has chosen to move on from the show. Thanks John for all the laughs we had together. It never felt like work. 👏🎉Our picture together is still on the wall in Bristol from 2… pic.twitter.com/YE25h8JreK
— Linda Cohn (@lindacohn) June 14, 2024
This may be the end of an era for SportsCenter, but Anderson’s love for sports shows no signs of slowing down. He embraces this new chapter with grace, leaving behind a legacy as a one-of-a-kind anchor who will surely be missed.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.