I didn't really have much of a problem with Football Night In America's approach to their program, but apparently they think it's too "highlight driven". Well, with the hiring of Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, that's all going to change. From Dick Ebersol via Sports Business Daily....

NBC Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol yesterday indicated the net’s “Football Night in America” studio show will change its directional tone, cutting back on the amount of highlights from that day’s games to allow for more league analysis and previews of that night’s primetime broadcast. Ebersol: “We have failed to clear out enough time to discuss football, and we’ve been too locked in on highlights for every game.” While clips from each game will still be shown, Ebersol noted there will be “much more emphasis on the whys of what happened at that game than we’ve had in the past.” Ebersol: “I feel that we’ve been neglect in that area.”

I rather enjoyed the no nonsense approach to just showing highlights, but that could be the reason I though Jerome Bettis and Cris Collinsworth were so pointless on the show. NBC can afford to discuss game theory more now, and with Tiki Barber moving on-site, they have the right number of people to do so.

NBC's "FNIA" To Feature More Analysis; Dungy, Harrison In Studio (Sports Business Daily)

All of us watched NBC's coverage of the Super Bowl, and I think most (if not all) of us can agree that Rodney Harrsion's performance as an analyst was less than stellar. Sure there was a great segment on the "David Tyree Catch" involving him, but for the most part he didn't really blow me away with his "analysis".

Well today comes the news, that not only Harrison is being considered by multiple networks, and could even replace the rumored to be fired Jerome Bettis at NBC. Via the Boston Herald....

Harrison represents a trickier case. He has not played a full season since 2004. He turns 37 in December and appears to be paying the inevitable price that comes with his take-no-prisoners style of play.

Because he’s feisty, fearless and opinionated, Harrison has drawn interest from the broadcast networks and could easily land a studio role. Anyone who saw him on the NFL Network during Super Bowl week knows he’s a natural in front of the camera. But Harrison has not yet publicly shut the door on another comeback, and for the time being he appears to be limiting his options to the Patriots, though the Atlanta resident’s hometown Falcons always could be in play.

Before we get into this, it needs to be noted that this rumor is coming from John Tomase. He who claimed the Pats were involved in walkthrough tapings of the Rams. So I would tread lightly when taking it as fact. However, this wouldn't necessarily be a bad move for NBC.

Yes, I've said that NBC need not hire anyone to replace Bettis. But, that was before we learned that Cris Collinsworth was heading to the booth to replace Madden. With just Costas, Tiki, Olbermann and Patrick (and the random appearances from Peter King), the set would seem rather empty. Harrison might be worth a tryout.

D-Day Looms For Rodney Harrison, Jason Taylor (Boston Herald)

I don't know if there's a higher honor in the Sports World, but during his first interview since taking over for John Madden, Cris Collinsworth admitted that the legend actually asked him to be his successor. Via the Cincy Inquirer....

But Collinsworth wanted to talk about the man with 15 Emmys: Madden.
“John asked me to replace him. That’s as high of a tribute as you can get in this business,” Collinsworth says.

The two finally spoke Monday for the first time since Madden, 73, retired.
“It’s something that I’ll treasure for a lifetime. He was so gracious and wonderful … It was about as special a moment as I’ve ever had in my professional career,” says Collinsworth, who joined WLW-AM and cable’s “Inside the NFL” after leaving football. “I want to make him proud.”

NBC had planned for Collinsworth to succeed Madden for some time. Collinsworth’s contract named him successor for either Madden or announcer Al Michaels, he says. He just didn’t expect it to happen this soon.

It's a shame that Madden is retiring now, because he's so much fun to watch on Sunday nights, but if anyone can fill in right away it's Collinsworth. Now we just have to wait to see and see who will replace him on the NFL Network.

Collinsworth praises Madden (Cincinnati Inquirer)

Jim Lampley has been in and out of the news over the past few years, and whether or not you respect him as person based on some of his past transgressions, you can't deny that he's good on camera. Lampley has always had a spot in both the Winter and Summer Olympics, but following NBC's placement of Al Michaels as the Winter studio host, Lampley might end up skipping this year's Olympics in a bit of a protest.

It has been rumored that Lampley was offered a Hockey role for the Games, but according to the NY Daily News, the HBO Sports' play-by-play man has reportedly turned the offer down....

His EbNess decided to boot Lampley from the role of daytime Olympic studio host in favor of Al Michaels (he last hosted the earthquake at the '89 World Series), who will don the turtleneck and smoking jacket for NBC's 2010 Winter Games coverage from Vancouver. Lampley had a string of working 14 straight Olympics. Ebersol said he "could not imagine" Lampley not having a role in Vancouver.

Start imagining. Spies say Lampley was offered the hockey-host gig and turned it down.

I don't really think of Lampley as someone who would be offended by this. He only had a small role during the last Winter Olympics, but after being replaced on the Summer Games by Bob Costas, he could certainly be feeling a bit slighted.

Turning off the Lamp(ley) (NY Daily News)

I guess this shouldn't come as shock to anyone, but NBC Chairman Dick Ebersol told USA Today that if Madden should want to retire, they have a replacement already lined up. That person of course is Cris Collinsworth.

Not that Madden has ever suggested he wants to retire. He noted Tuesday that "it doesn't get any better" than working a Super Bowl and working another one "sounds pretty good." And NBC's Ebersol has repeated said that Madden will get that chance, saying he plans on keeping Madden at least through the remaining three seasons on NBC's NFL TV deal. Tuesday, Ebersol even volunteered he'd be "devastated" if Madden decided to retire. But if Madden did step aside, said Ebersol, Collinsworth would be "the first guy" in line. Which makes sense, given that Ebersol hired Collinsworth to be NBC's game analyst -- until Madden, who'd been at ABC, became available. Ebersol, still wanting Collinsworth on games, had him practice play-by-play calls in hopes he could be teamed with Madden -- until Al Michaels became available. Collinsworth, Tuesday, after being asked if he saw any chance in which he'd replace Madden in NBC's current deal: "I hope not."

I'm certainly a Collinsworth fan, but I don't know how I would feel about the guy actually doing play-by-play for a network. There are certainly worse options out there, but I think the current plan of succession is perfect for NBC. The only problem is that Michaels has already said he would retire when Madden does, so I'm not sure if that ultimately does mean a move to PbP for Collinsworth.

Whither John Madden (Open Mike)

Hey, who thinks ten people for a pregame show is too many? Certainly not NBC! The Peacock added yet ANOTHER analyst to their set for their five hour pregame show, putting their current total at eleven. The latest to join the ridiculous count is current Patriot, Rodney Harrison. Via NBC PR....

Rodney Harrison, who earned two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, will join NBC's Super Bowl XLIII Pregame Show it was announced today. In a 15-year-career, Harrison has made three Pro Bowl appearances and is the only player in NFL history with both 30 career sacks and 30 career interceptions.

NBC's Super Bowl XLIII Pregame Show kicks off at Noon ET and will be led by its "Football Night in America" studio team of Bob Costas (host), Cris Collinsworth (co-host), Keith Olbermann (co-host), Dan Patrick (co-host), Jerome Bettis (analyst), Tiki Barber (analyst) and Peter King (reporter). Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren and Matt Millen were also recently announced as contributors.

In addition to his two Super Bowl rings, Harrison was part of perhaps the most famous play in Super Bowl history, attempting to defend David Tyree's miracle reception in last year's Super Bowl XLII. During NBC's pregame coverage, Harrison will discuss his role in Super Bowl lore as part of a feature on the Tyree catch.

At this point they're going to have to go over to Conan, and borrow some mics or something. I haven't even seen what they're planning, and I'm already aggravated by this nonsense. With that many people on board, all day Sunday is going to be a dizzy, convoluted, set of random pieces with no real semblance of order. It's just impossible for it not to be.

And you thought adding Matt Millen would mean there were still too many people on the set. Tsk tsk. NBC announced this evening that ex-Coaches, Mike Holmgren and Tony Dungy, will be joining their studio coverage for Super Bowl XLIII, which starts at Noon on February 1st. Via NBC PR....

NEW YORK – January 22, 2009 – Tony Dungy and Mike Holmgren, who as NFL head coaches combined to win two Super Bowl rings and reach four Super Bowls, will join NBC's pregame coverage of Super Bowl XLIII, which begins at 12 noon, ET on Sunday, Feb. 1. The announcement was made today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and Executive Producer of NBC's Super Bowl broadcast.

"Over the past few years I've enjoyed getting to know Tony and Mike through numerous production meetings and have been impressed by the way they handled themselves not only as coaches and communicators but also as men," said Ebersol. "What I learned is that in addition to their obvious Super Bowl credentials, Mike and Tony share extraordinary storytelling ability. We're excited to have them make their broadcast debuts with us. I'm sure viewers will enjoy their unique perspective and insights as Super Bowl coaches."

Ugh. I think Dungy and Holmgren are fine individuals, as well as Coaches, but the number of people involved with this broadcast is going to be staggering. By my count you're looking at a total of thirteen different people on-air, by the time the game finishes up that Sunday night. That's just waaaaaay, way too many.

Tony and Matt Millen have had a long relationship, and even as Millen was destroying the Lions, it was still tough for the PTIer to say anything bad about the guy. Kornheiser thinks so highly of Millen that he said yesterday that a booth that adds him as an analyst would be the best in the business. Even better than the MNF team. Via Fanhouse....

"It's fair to ask the question, 'If you're so smart, why didn't you ever win? But Matt Millen is great on TV. Not good, he's great. The booth that he walks into will become the best booth. Even if he walks over my body and sits in my seat, it's going to become the best. He's just great at it, and in six months or less people will forget."- Tony Kornheiser

I personally enjoy Jaws more, but during some of the later games this season, he started to get on my nerves. Tony is right about one thing though, replacing him with Matt Millen would make the MNF booth infinitely better. Hell you could replace him with Pam Ward, and it would be better. Well maybe not Pam....let's say FOX's Chris Rose.

Imagine the shock and horror on my face, when I turned on NBC's pregame coverage Saturday, and Matt Millen was on the TV staring back at me. It's not the fact that he was in an analyst chair (he has been there before), but rather that NBC already employees what seems like thirty people for their pre and postgame shows.

I then thought....okay....maybe it's a one time thing, and they wanted to bring in a new voice for Wildcard Weekend. Ummm no....he's actually going to be on-air for the network's coverage of the Super Bowl as well. Via Watchdog....

NBC plans to announce Monday that former Lions president Matt Millen will participate in the network's Super Bowl coverage Feb. 1 - not as a member of the game booth featuring Al Michaels and John Madden but in some other capacity.

Millen was much more competent in his earlier life as a TV analyst than he was running the Detroit club.

Asked by Dan Patrick on NBC Saturday whether he would have fired himself from the Lions if he were making the decision, Millen said, "I would have, actually. Probably not this year until after the season. I think when you start having changeover in an organization it filters down into the locker room. That's tough to do. I thought that was a tough position for Rod Marinelli to be in. Rod's a stud. Rod's an outstanding football coach."

Ummm, are you really going to expect us to listen to the thoughts from someone who just destroyed a franchise, NBC? I mean sure, Millen was one of the better analysts out there when he retired from Football. And he's been on both CBS and FOX, as well as the radio side of Monday Night Football. But using someone who gave us the first 0-16 season ever to provide intelligent analysis during the Playoffs?

Whatever you think will help, I guess. At least he took the blame for destroying the Lions, so you've got that going for you Detroit....

Matt Millen to join NBC's Super Bowl XLIII coverage (Watchdog)