After Charles Woodson left ESPN in February 2019, he joined up with Fox Sports later that year, taking his talents as an NFL and college football analyst to their programming. Woodson had stints with “Sunday NFL Countdown” and “Monday Countdown” but has been primarily seen on “Big Noon Kickoff” at his new home, making select appearances on other shows as well.
That will be changing in the coming season, per the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand. Per Marchand, Woodson will become a full-time analyst on “Fox NFL Kickoff” on Sundays while also continuing to make some appearances on “Big Noon Kickoff” on Saturdays. Woodson will join current hosts Charissa Thompson, Michael Vick, Dave Wannstedt, Tony Gonzalez, and Colin Cowherd on the panel.
It remains to be seen if the show will present all of those hosts at the same time. That kind of analyst bloat can often spell doom for pregame shows. Marchand notes that it’s possible Fox will tinker with the format in order to keep things fresh and cut down on the overwhelming nature of so many studio personalities.
It’s also possible that Gonzalez could be in the process of being groomed to move over to “Fox NFL Sunday” over on the main network. Given that he already makes appearances there, it’s possible he could end up taking over one of the main seats for Terry Bradshaw or Jimmy Johnson if they retire or leave the show. In that case, it would make sense to bring in Woodson now to get him ready.
It’s been a pretty good year for Woodson, who was announced as a member of the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. The 1997 Heisman winner retired with 65 interceptions, 183 passes defended, and 1,220 tackles, living up to the hype he brought with him as the fourth pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. Sounds like his post-playing career is back on the upswing as well.
[NY Post]
