Rush Limbaugh joins ESPN's NFL Countdown

[Guest Bannable Offense]

By Steve Gorman

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh will soon be calling some signals for ESPN's weekly football preview "Sunday NFL Countdown."   

 

Starting in September, Limbaugh, 52, will join the show's line-up as the "voice of the fan," delivering an opinion piece near the top of the two-hour telecast each week, the Walt Disney Co.-owned sports network said on Monday.

 

 

He also will weigh in three times during each show with a "Rush challenge," offering a counterpoint to commentary from the program's three regular analysts -- former NFL players Steve Young (news), Michael Irvin and Tom Jackson (news).

 

 

The show, which debuted in 1985 and currently reaches 1.7 million households, is anchored by Chris Berman.

 

 

Limbaugh's first appearance on "Countdown" will be on Thursday, Sept. 4, just before the National Football League season opener that evening between the Washington Redskins and the New York Jets.

 

 

"Rush is a great communicator and a fan's fan," ESPN executive vice president Mark Shapiro said. "His acute sense of what's on the minds of his listeners combined with his ability to entertain and serve as a lightning rod for lively discussion makes him the perfect fit for this new role."

 

 

Said Limbaugh himself in a statement issued by ESPN: "Football is like life and I know life. I am a big fan of the NFL and now I get to do what every football fan would love to do. I get to take my observations from the living room couch to the ESPN studios and talk football with the best journalists and players in the business."

 

 

Limbaugh, who is keeping his job as the nation's top-rated radio talk show host, will join the ESPN broadcast from a side set at the cable network's Bristol, Connecticut, headquarters or via satellite. Financial terms of his multiyear deal were not disclosed.

 

 

The syndicated radio personality came close to landing a spot as a TV gridiron commentator three years ago in talks with "Monday Night Football" on ABC, ESPN's sister broadcast network, but comedian Dennis Miller (news) got the job instead.

 

 

Limbaugh ranks as one of the mostly highly paid figures in the broadcast media, signing a deal in July 2001 reportedly valued at $285 million to keep his daily radio program on the air for another eight years.

 

 

The program, distributed by Premiere Radio Networks, a unit of Clear Channel Communications Inc., is heard by more than 20 million listeners weekly on nearly 600 radio stations nationwide.

 

 

Limbaugh made headlines in the fall of 2001 when he announced on the air that he grown virtually deaf as the result of a rare autoimmune disorder of the inner ear, but he regained some of his hearing after undergoing cochlear implant surgery.

 

Honestly, what...the...HELL?

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Weird.

 

I don't care, I'll still watch

[Guest Choken One]

All those people that Bitched about Miller...

 

SHUT UP! This takes the cake...

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

I liked Miller.

[Guest Choken One]

Oh Yes...I might disagree with some of his Politcal thinking but the man was gold on that show and made Al and the other guy look like Idiots.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

So that's what the teleconference he was talking about being involved with was about. I thought it had to do with the golf tournament he was playing in this week.

[Guest razazteca]

Oh no Rush will never shut up about the Steelers now. This could be interesting, I just hope he does not go with the Dennis Miller method of bringing up obscure "facts" about the topics. I would like to see Rush interview some of the NFL owners.

 

I wonder if Rush will use some of the colorful names for people like he does on teh radio.......season citizens, soccer moms, etc.

 

They must put Jim Rome, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Ryan, Max Kellerman on a Sports Reporter type show. So they can yell at each other about trivial topics just like the other million "round table discussion" shows on tv.

[Bored 0]

Seriously is Rush even a relevant politcal personality anymore? Certainly not as much as was say 10 years ago. Don't see how he'll really draw any ratings. Also isn't he going deaf? Maybe Berman will do sign language for him.

[Guest razazteca]

Rush Limbaugh can become the good ol JR of ESPN.

 

Is this a good thing?

[Swift Terror 0]

Also isn't he going deaf? Maybe Berman will do sign language for him.

 

 

His hearing loss (result of a degenerative disease) was corrected by surgery. Aren't jokes about people with diseases funny? Maybe the next person you ridicule will be the wrong person and will subsequently put you in the hospital.

 

 

As for Dave Stewart, he got his ass handed to him in the 1990 World Series.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Think what you will about Rush, but he does know his football.

 

It's going to be interesting to see the fallout from this...

[Guest El Satanico]

It's NFL Countdown...I doubt they hired him for the sole purpose of drawing ratings.

 

Every football fan interested in the show will watch it regardless. No new host will make someone suddenly say "hey i'm interested in watching a pre game/news show now".

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

I never used to watch ESPN's Sunday pre-game shows, but I will now.

 

BTW: I'm assuming Jimmy Kimmel won't be on Fox's broadcast anymore...

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

"The Voice Of The Fan."

 

???

 

Not this fan, that's for Damned sure.

 

NO ONE PERSON can speak for everybody. People are too divergent psychologically and politically. (And we're better off for it).

 

I'll probably tune in once just to see how it is, but I'm pretty sure I won't like what I see. I'll probably watch that show less this season, which is a shame because I find it to have been more informative than the others in past years. I expect that Limbaugh's presence will turn me off to the show. I may be wrong. But I doubt it.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

I never used to watch ESPN's Sunday pre-game shows, but I will now.

 

BTW: I'm assuming Jimmy Kimmel won't be on Fox's broadcast anymore...

Kimmel should be on the Monday Night Football pregame show or something..

[Guest Dangerous A]

I'll go with a wait and see approach on this one.

[Agent_Bond34 0]

I'll go with a wait and see approach on this one.

Ditto

 

I don't know much about Rush Limbaugh, so I'll wait until I see him on the show.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Rush Limbaugh can become the good ol JR of ESPN.

 

Is this a good thing?

(John Madden looks over)

 

BAH GAWD BY TURKEY BOWL BUFFALO WINGS~! RAIDERS COWBOYS SUPER BOWL PUT YOUR PAWS ON IT BOOM~!

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Vitamin, your phrase should have went, "PUT YOUR BIG OL' PAWS ON IT BOOM!"