Since replacing Tony Kornheiser on
Monday Night Football, Jon Gruden's settled in pretty nicely as a broadcaster. But the perpetual rumors of Gruden departing for whatever available coaching opportunities were out there,
most recently with a report that the gig in Miami was his to turn down.
Those rumors will die down now, as ESPN announced on Monday that Gruden signed a five-year extension that will keep him on
Monday Night Football through 2017.
"Our
Monday Night Football crew is special, and to have the opportunity to continue to be a part of this team, working these big-time NFL prime time games every week on ESPN, I’m fired up," Gruden said in a release from the network.
Yes, everyone was upset that his statement didn't include "THIS GUY" -- a reference to Gruden's heavy usage of a certain descriptor for players.
And there are probably some people who are upset that Gruden's on the telecast for the next six years; his style of announcing seems to grate on various viewers, but he has developed a nice rapport with Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico in the booth. That was lacking -- mightily -- from the rendition that featured Kornheiser, for a number of reasons.
But while Gruden might be full of enthusiasm, he also knows what he's talking about, which is refreshing change of pace from some of the folks ESPN's trotted out for color commentary over the past few years.
