Sean Salisbury is leaving SB Nation Radio/beIN Sports to head to Houston's SportsTalk 790.

Houston’s SportsTalk 790 is again in the news. The station made headlines in October 2016 when they brought in controversial host Josh Innes following his firing in Philadelphia for racist mocking of a competitor’s racist fake caller, made waves earlier this year when they were banned from Radio Row at the Super Bowl following Innes’ fight with competitor Seth Payne, and got further attention in May when they fired afternoon co-host Adam Clanton and suspended Innes over a long-running Clanton-Innes feud going public.

Now, they’ve axed the other two afternoon co-hosts, Jayson Braddock and Sean Jones, and have brought in Sean Salisbury, most recently of SB Nation Radio and a beIN Sports simulcast. Here’s more on the Salisbury hiring from Jason Barrett of Barrett Sports Media:

SportsTalk 790 is adding former NFL Quarterback Sean Salisbury weekdays from 3p-6p CT. Salisbury exits Gow Media where he had hosted shows for ESPN Houston, SB Nation Radio and beIN Sports. He’s expected to make his debut on 790 on July 9th.

“We’re thrilled to be adding Salisbury to the team. The former QB brings a unique perspective from his days on the gridiron,” said Bryan Erickson, Director of AM Programming for iHeart Media Houston.

…“I’ve been blessed with a full career and this opportunity to work with iHeart and Sportstalk 790 was too good to pass up in so many ways. I don’t take these great moments lightly,” said Salisbury. “The last 5 years have been special. I fully expect this new journey to be filled with WOW moments that make our listeners feel like they are getting the show they deserve!”

…“We’ve put together an All Star lineup of guys who know sports and love talking about sports,” said Erickson. “Sportstalk 790 is truly the best destination for compelling local sports content in Houston.”

It’s interesting to see Salisbury in the media news again. National readers may remember him for his time as a NFL and CFL quarterback, his time as an ESPN analyst, his infamous exit from ESPN, and his public battle with depression before returning to radio gigs, a brief stint as a Lingerie Football League commentator and more.

Over the last few years, though, he’s been a regular daily radio host with Yahoo Sports Radio (which then became SB Nation Radio), and his show’s been simulcast on beIN Sports since April 2017. And it appears that 790 was quite eager to bring him in. This is an unfortunate development for Jones and Bradddock, though, and Braddock told David Barron of The Houston Chronicle he was just 11 months into his dream of hosting his own show:

In a business dominated by communications school graduates, Braddock was a self-made broadcaster who began in radio offering football analysis and served an eight-year apprenticeship making occasional on-air appearances before landing a regular weekday show last year.

“I think if people listened to me, they realized my whole life has been about work ethic,” he said. “I thought I would be able to get more than 11 months out of a two-year contract.”

Braddock said he will remain in Houston because of his wife’s family ties to the area and hopes to get another chance to work in sports radio.

“My family made sacrifices for eight years so I could pursue a dream,” he said. “I hope somebody in Houston gives me another opportunity. I like what I do. I’ve been knocked down a lot in life. This won’t keep me down.”

We’ll see what’s next for Braddock. For now, though, it’s Salisbury who’s in for the afternoons. Hopefully he won’t wind up in a feud with Innes.

[Barrett Sports Media]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.