Re: the MNF story... Tafoya said on Tirico's show today, " everything is in a state of flux, but don't believe everything you read."

Let's see .. the two most watchable college football announcers in the stable are gone. In keeping with ESPN's mantra of entertainment first and everything else second, I predict Van Earl Wright will join the cast in 2008.

fouts was fantastic as an analyst. as a play-by-play man, he was a little rough around the edges.

Side note: If anyone has footage of the Fox robot probowl edition...it was really creepy.

Side note: Charles Barkley said today on Rome's radio show that he bet $400,000 on the Patriots because he saw all the ESPN NFL analysts picking New England. What?

Anon 2:07...I only noticed it at the end of the game and missed my video opportunity but I concur....very odd.

Fouts was probably my least favorite of the ABC PBP men. Not sad to see him go.

Please, God, make Musberger be the next to go away!

so who is espn ADDING? they just cover the "family of networks" with fewer announcers.
when is pam ward's contract up?

Fouts was the ultimate good soldier for ABC/ESPN. He was given no chance on Monday Night Football due to failed Dennis Miller experiment. He works with Keith Jackson when Keith was about to call it a career. ESPN then has him do what could not have been comfortable in doing play-by-play. He was not bad either. So how does Disney repay this guy who did whatever was asked of him, they tell him to make sure the door doesn't hit you in the ass on the way out.

Maybe we were spoiled out west to hear Keith Jackson each week...but hearing Fouts on PbP was up there when CBS put Tom Brookshier in that role...it just doesn't work. Both Fouts and moreso Brant have been with ABC a long time; they'll likely turn up somewhere. Maybe Joel Meyers will be swiped...we can dream, right?

@anon 3:42:

Joel Meyers has been doing radio work for ESPN Radio's NBA coverage recently (like yesterday's Lakers-Heat game). I'm sure he'd go back to ESPN/ABC on West Coast games, for the right price.

This is bad news. Dan Fouts was a very good anaylst with ABC, first on MNF and then with Keith Jackson for college football. While he wasn't very comfortable as a play-by-play man, he did a yeoman's job and had settled nicely into that role this season. Brant was a solid analyst, certainly a good fit as the analyst on the 5th string announcing team. I don't know who ESPN has on their radar as replacements, but it's not going to be easy to replace Fouts and Brant.

I for one wouldn't mind seeing Fouts go back to the NFL - he could replace one of the meatheads on Fox (dump Baldinger and pair him with Dick Stockton, maybe?)

The only issue I had with these two was sometimes a very delayed reaction to what was happening on the field. It was almost like they werent actually at the game, but sitting somewhere watching it. But they usually had good insights.

Stephan - Fouts begged for the PBP job. He enlisted KJ's help. They spent a good deal of capital their final season together promoting Dan as the Pac 10 PBP guy.

Brant has been greatly unappreciated at Capital Cities, and then Disney. The poobahs never liked that he approached games in the style of KJ. So, we get Bob Davie. We lose Mike Gottfried (he was already gonna be demoted before his stroke, imo). Now the most exalted PBP is a basketball guy with a Britney fascination (Mike Patrick).

Nessler, Musberger, and who? That is the $$$$ question. Does Chris Fowler want to give up GameDay? He has great chemistry with KH. Sean McDonough climbs back up after losing the CBS gig?

The answer I fear most - Mark Jones.

It's not as if Fouts/Brant were calling the top games, they could easily be replaced without anything as dramatic as taking Fowler off GameDAy. There are plenty of part-timers actually better than Fouts that could be moved up.
Jones already has a regular gig, for better or worse (OK, worse).

Unbelievable morons at ESPN. All show no go! While Dan might not have been the God of the airwaves KJ, he certainly is a lot better than most. Obviously as an analyst there is none better. His insight into the game along with integrity are second to none. There's simply no one who knows the game better. He's not a pretty boy like Herbstreet, nor a clown like Madden or Berman. As a previous response noted ABC/ESPN/Disney screwed him. He did what they asked of him and did it professionally. I for one will not watch ESPN/ABC anymore. I look forward to one of the other networks signing him. up.

Bad move by ESPN

It's about money...ESPN would rather hire some young kid for a fraction of the cost. Google Brant's resume, he has done everthing!