In news sure to be celebrated across the land, ESPN is once again handing play-by-play duties for the late Week 1 Monday Night Football game to Chris Berman, according to SI‘s Richard Deitsch.
Chris Berman, Steve Young and Lindsay Czarniak will broadcast the MNF @49ers–@RamsNFL for ESPN on Sept. 12.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) August 30, 2016
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This will be the fifth year in a row ESPN has gifted us Berman for the late-night game, and at this point it seems apparent that, much like the Masters and the Home Run Derby, Berman’s going to do this as long as Berman wants to do this. He will be joined in the booth by Steve Young, who takes over from Trent Dilfer; that’s interesting in that Dilfer just re-upped with ESPN, and apparently maintaining his presence on this telecast wasn’t part of the deal.
That’s probably for the best, as the duo did not exactly endear themselves to the viewing public.
As mentioned, Steve Young returns to the booth for the first time since 2009, and it’s safe to predict he’ll bring a calmer air to proceedings. (Regardless of what happens during the broadcast, Young’s best Monday Night Football moment will likely remain when he stared incredulously at Rick Reilly after Reilly demanded to be credited for a Twitter report.)
Lindsay Czarniak will serve as the sideline reporter for the third straight year. She’s talented and versatile, and will almost assuredly do just fine.
The main disappointment is that Chris Berman will apparently get to do this as long as he wants, if he wants it. The man is an absolute legend, but at a certain point, with a deep bench of qualified play-by-play options, it’s disappointing that ESPN appeases Berman with these assignments rather than using the one-off audience to highlight a new talent.
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