Neil Everett saw ‘the writing was on the wall’ in his final years at ESPN

Neil Everett has officially said goodbye to ESPN. The longtime SportsCenter anchor’s contract expired and was not renewed by the company. His official separation date, Sunday, July 9, came nearly 23 years after he started at The Worldwide Leader.

Everett appeared on the most recent episode of the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast and was asked by The Athletic’s media reporter for his perspective on why he’s no longer at the company he spent more than two decades at.

“I would probably guess that my value to them was not what it needed to be for them to keep me there,” Everett told Deitsch.

When Everett signed his final deal with ESPN more than two years ago, he agreed to work less and to take “much” less money. Everett said that he “knew the writing was on the wall,” so for these past couple of years, he’s been doing the groundwork to expand his outreach in the industry.

“I chose to write my own narrative before they tried to write it for me,” he said.

Everett worked the last few years as a television studio host for the Portland Trail Blazers and did the pre, half, and post-game coverage. He also hosted a pair of Blazers “LegendCasts” back in March, as part of an alternate broadcast, alongside Antonio Harvey and Terry Porter.

“What a blessing that they invited me onto their bench with their talented people up in Portland,” Everett said. “That’s the team I grew up rooting for. How many kids get to realize that? My dad took me to Trail Blazers games in the mid-70s…And now I’m getting to be a part of that team.”

Everett told Deitsch that he’s had a conversation with one of the executives about returning to Portland and there seems to be mutual interest in that aspect. Though, what the future holds for Everett remains to be seen.

Not everyone has the chance to leave ESPN on their own teams. Everett’s now former colleagues weren’t exactly granted that opportunity but feels like he was.

“I feel like I did it on my own terms, 100 percent,” he said.

[Sports Media with Richard Deitsch via The Athletic]