The voice of Monday Night Football, Mike Tirico, is leaving ESPN to go work for NBC. What's next for everyone involved?

Tirico's decision affects a lot of people. Not only will ESPN be looking for Jon Gruden's new booth mate on MNF, Tirico's contributions as a basketball play-by-play man and as a multi-talented broadcaster will make him hard to replace. In his 25 years at ESPN, Tirico carried the torch for a couple big brands, but NBC can offer him the Olympics...

Bob Costas anchored 11 Olympics for NBC Sports, but the brass at NBC admitted there has to be a plan for life after Costas. Whenever Costas makes his exit, Tirico provides an interesting alternative. You could definitely do a LOT worse as a replacement.

Tirico's football skills will be put to work on NBC's Thursday Night Football broadcast, so you will still here his pipes on primetime. Al Michael's contract comes up after the 2017-18 season, and then it could be Tirico's gig on the gridiron. With NBC, Tirico has a chance to call a Super Bowl, something ESPN was never able to offer him.

The move makes sense for Tirico, but it still came with a fair amount of surprise. Who else thought Tirico would be with ESPN for the rest of his life? Clearly ESPN did.

Tirico now joins the ranks of ESPN personalities who decided to leave "The Mothership." Radio host Colin Cowherd parted ways with ESPN as well, leaving for a job with Fox after his relationship with ESPN soured. Dan Patrick, Mike Hill, and several others made the choice to jump too whenever the competitor's offers became too attractive. It's the nature of the business, but it's going to be weird not seeing Tirico on Monday Night Football.

Whoever ESPN pairs with Gruden on Monday Nights will have big shoes to fill, and NBC Sports will have a new voice to show off in primetime.

Monday Night Football is going to change, so let's all hope it doesn't get a lot worse. Now who will call Jon Gruden "a stinker?"

 

More From 103.3 The GOAT