Neil Everett reflects on ‘SportsCenter’ partnership with Stan Verrett: ‘It was just meant to be’

Throughout the history of SportsCenter, there have been countless anchor pairings that became synonymous with the show. But according to former SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett, his pairing with Stan Verrett for over a decade is perhaps the most natural fit the show has ever had.

Everett and Verrett anchored ESPN’s West Coast edition of SportsCenter from 2009 until Everett’s departure from ESPN in 2023. And after Everett hosted his final show, Verrett made it a point to openly pay tribute to his longtime partner, who he described as a “brother for life” that was “selfless, caring, generous, and a pro’s pro” during their time together.

During an appearance on the Sports Media with a Human Touch podcast, hosted by Bryan Fenley, Everett returned all of the praise Verrett shared about him, describing him to be a seamless on-air partner who didn’t require any real practice to work with.

“I’m glad he feels that way because I feel that way about him,” Everett said. “I’d be bummed if he felt any differently. You don’t walk beside a man as long as we did without getting a feel for him one way or another. And I love the guy. It was just all organic. I didn’t read what he wrote. He didn’t read what I wrote. We just… Boom, we just happened. There was not a whole lot of practice involved with it.

“There was not a whole lot of practice involved. We said, ‘Hopefully it worked.’  I’m just thinking of some of the times—Stan walking down the street, and we put a little dancing mimi on top of him—I was crying, laughing. It was just meant to be.”

Interestingly, Verrett now finds himself in the same position that Everett was in two years ago, with his own end at ESPN coming later this summer after it was reported in May that his contract would not be renewed by the network.

While it is still unclear what Verrett will do when he is no longer at the network, he made it incredibly clear that his departure at ESPN is not in any way an indication that he may retire from the sports media business as a whole.

This obviously leaves plenty of speculation as to what is next for Verrett. But as for Everett, who has largely remained out of the public eye since his ESPN departure, he made it clear that he isn’t rushing back to a national stage anytime soon.

“You strike me as a guy who will never sit still,” said Bryan Fenley to Everett.

“No, I can sit still,” replied Everett. “I’m yearning to sit still. I mean, I go to yoga, I walk the dogs. You know, I am amazed how quick the day goes when you have nothing to do. So, you know, I’ve got the animals, they take a great deal of time. I’ve got the house, it takes time. And then I’m cooking, which I have never done before. I cook mostly fish, nothing too fancy. I get online and look at recipes and I go, ‘I can do that.’ A little cardio, trying to eat right.”