Jaworski Won’t Return as Analyst in ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’ Booth

Ron Jaworski won’t return to the “Monday Night Football” booth next season, as ESPN said it will use a two-person commentator team of play-by-play man Mike Tirico and analyst Jon Gruden.

Jaworski had been a “Monday Night Football” analyst for the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) network for the past five seasons and teamed with Tirico and Gruden since 2009. The former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback signed a five-year extension today for an analyst role that includes appearances on ESPN’s other NFL programming, the network said in a statement.

ESPN had featured a three-person booth since 2006, when the Monday night NFL games moved to the cable network from ABC. Al Michaels and John Madden were the last two-man broadcasting team for “Monday Night Football,” paired together on ABC’s coverage from 2002-05.

ESPN and the NFL extended their broadcast-rights agreement on Sept. 8, 2011, giving the Walt Disney Co. unit “Monday Night Football” through the 2021 season. It’s the most-watched series in cable-TV history.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net