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Berman’s ESPN career winding down

One of ESPN’s longest-tenured employees gets his usual primetime perch each Monday night this season, but this has been anything but business as usual for Chris Berman – and what’s next for the broadcaster could be interesting.

Berman has been at ESPN since 1979, joining the then one-month-old all-sports network when he was 24 years old. Berman’s career and stature grew along with ESPN itself.

He hosted “SportsCenter,” and in many ways became the face of the place. Berman dropped nicknames for players into highlights. He used catch phrases (“He could go all the way!” and “Back, back back “) with abandon.

He quickly became popular with viewers, and has displayed impressive lasting power.

Plus, Berman was respected in his profession and as a crossover talent.

For example, he was named National Sportscaster of the Year nine times by two different organizations from 1989 to 2001. He was also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010, earned an honorary degree from Brown University in 2007 and was named among “TV’s Most Fascinating Stars” by People Magazine in 1997.

Most of all, Berman was associated with the NFL.

Before ESPN bought the rights to live broadcasts, he was the host of the network’s NFL studio programming. And, before NBC had “Sunday Night Football” or before the NFL Network existed, “NFL PrimeTime” with Berman and Tom Jackson was the end-of-weekend highlight show for the sport for nearly two decades.

That made Berman an important personality for ESPN and the NFL. He relished both roles, and ESPN was better for it.

In recent years, though, Berman has become a caricature of himself at times, with the shtick sometimes feeling forced and tired. And he’s apparently a bit of a costly luxury for ESPN, which decided not to renew his contract after this season.

So far in his lame-duck season, “Monday Night Countdown” has practiced a different approach.

Berman has been based in the network’s Bristol, Connecticut, studio, with the rest of the ESPN team on site for the weekly “Monday Night Football” game.

It seems like a way to include Berman while slowly removing him from things. So he talks with NFL legends (Mike Ditka, Dick Vermeil, Joe Namath) on the set but does not interact as regularly with others at the stadium.

It’s not exactly a sad situation, and there’s no need to feel bad for Berman, but it’s clear there’s a separation coming.

Interestingly, though, not long after ESPN said it was not renewing Berman’s contract his representatives made it clear he was not retiring.

So, he’ll appear somewhere else in the future, and some network looking for legitimacy or a deeper talent roster will probably make room for Berman sooner rather than later once his contract lapses.

He’s not a play-by-play guy (or at last should not be), but his experience and familiarity could mean something to TV sports executives, advertisers and viewers.

He will find another outlet for his talent, and with his affinity for pro football the NFL Network could be a logical landing point, as could something associated with SiriusXM radio.

He will be a loss for ESPN – another big move in an ongoing changing of the guard for the network – but he’ll still be on TV somewhere.

Three 30s

Three documentaries, the latest installments of ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 documentary series, come to TV this fall, beginning Tuesday with “Phi Slamma Jamma,” which focuses on the University of Houston men’s basketball team that made three consecutive Final Four appearances from 1982 to 1984.

That team included All-Americans and eventual NBA Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Next in the series, premiering Nov. 1, will be “Hit it Hard,” which covers the career of golfer John Daly, who won the British Open in 1995 after personal and professional challenges and quickly became a colorful media darling.

He has struggled on the course since, though, mounting several comeback attempts while battling alcohol and gambling addition as well as health problems.

Finally, on Dec. 10, after the Heisman Trophy presentation on ESPN, “Catholics vs. Convicts” will make its premiere.

Its focus is the Oct. 15, 1998, college football matchup of No. 1 Miami and No. 4 Notre Dame.

At the time, Miami traveled to South Bend, carrying a 36-game regular season winning streak and a bad reputation. T-shirts bearing “Catholics vs. Convicts” were created for the game and the pre-game emotions and hype even led to a pre-game fight.

Thanks to the trailers and ESPN’s deserved reputation with the 30 for 30 series, viewers can anticipate three more strong films.

Tuner tidbits

n The Louisville-Clemson game was the season’s most-watched game so far. It drew an average of 9.29 million viewers. The next-most-watched game was Alabama-Mississippi, which averaged 8.17 million viewers.

Sampsell comments on TV and radio for the Mirror. He can be reached at stevesampsell@gmail.com.

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