šŸˆ General News. ESPN's Brent Musburger and Jesse Palmer Signed as Lead SEC Network Announce Team

Sports broadcasting legend Brent Musburger will be joined by college football analyst Jesse Palmer in the booth every Saturday on the SEC Network when it launches next fall. The Hall of Fame sportscaster and the former Florida quarterback have each reached an agreement with ESPN to be the lead college football game commentators on the new network. The pair will kick off the season with Texas A&M at South Carolina on the SEC Network Thursday, Aug. 28.

"Brent Musburger is a cultural icon who has been guiding fans through many of sport's most spectacular moments for decades," said John Wildhack, ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming and Production. "His big-game performance and unmistakable style will elevate our football coverage on the SEC Network. Serving as the definitive play-by-play voice for this major network launch represents an exciting new chapter in his legendary career and reinforces our commitment and investment in the SEC Network."

Wildhack continued, "Jesse Palmer has quickly established himself as one of college football's most insightful, entertaining and dedicated analysts. As a former SEC quarterback, he brings the perfect combination of playing experience and deep conference knowledge to the SEC Network. Partnering him with Brent on this new national platform will create a memorable booth for college football fans everywhere."

Musburger is one of the most recognized voices in the history of sports television and he will continue to be a staple of ESPN's sports coverage with a multi-year contract extension. In addition to lending his voice to one of the three football games slated for the network each Saturday, Brent will remain a play-by-play announcer for Big 12 college basketball games across ESPN networks. He and Palmer will call multiple college football bowl games on ESPN as well.

Musburger will make appearances on behalf of SEC Network and, after more than 20 years at ESPN and ABC, his role will continue to include sharing his expertise and experiences as a mentor.

"I'm delighted to be staying with ESPN, thrilled to be able to call the best football conference in the nation every week and
am really looking forward to working with Jesse, who I covered while he was at Florida," said Musburger. "Jesse has tremendous football knowledge, knows this league very well and does his homework. He has a tremendous future in this business."

Musburger's new booth partner, Palmer, has also reached a new agreement with ESPN that includes the role. In addition to calling Saturday games for the conference with the most BCS Champions, he will continue as an analyst on ESPN's Thursday Night College Football package. Palmer's expertise will also be featured in ESPN's extensive post-season coverage.

"I am honored and humbled at the rare opportunity to help launch a national network of this magnitude and to do so alongside, Brent, a legend within the sport and the industry" said Palmer. ""Playing in the SEC represented four of the greatest years of my life and I feel incredibly fortunate to now have the opportunity to cover this great conference. Year after year, their on-field success continues the conference's standard of excellence and their passionate fan base is second to none."

Musburger and Palmer join a growing roster of nationally recognized on-air commentators for the SEC Network that include Joe Tessitore, Tim Tebow and Paul Finebaum. Additional ESPN and SEC Network college football announcements will be made at a later date.

"The pairing of Brent and Jesse as our lead team speaks to the caliber of talent we will have on the network and the commitment to quality that we are making," said Stephanie Druley, ESPN Vice President, Production, College Networks. "We are establishing an incredible roster that SEC fans and followers expect and deserve."
 
I kind of like it. Jesse Palmer can talk a little to much, but his analyst are usually spot on most of the time. Musburger is probably my favorite current play-by-play commentator outside of Gus Johnson.

Will Musburger also do basketball?
 
TP, I made the same prediction to some of my co-workers about Brando. I honestly thought when he drug up at CBS that he was going to end up on the SEC network.

I'm not too fond of Palmer, I think I would have rather had Tebow along side Mussberger. I know Tebow has not been at it as long and hasn't "put in the time" that Jessie has, but I still like him better than Palmer. Just personal preference.
 
I was hoping they'd swing for the fences, to me it seems like the bunted. But then again, I don't know the other available folks contract situations.

The lead play by play guy on ABC/ESPN's Saturday night, prime time game, is a bunt?

When it comes to play by play guys, who carries a better resume than Musburger?
 
The lead play by play guy on ABC/ESPN's Saturday night, prime time game, is a bunt?

When it comes to play by play guys, who carries a better resume than Musburger?

First off, I'll admit I haven't put much thought into who I'd want in the positions. That being said, I don't mind Brent, not thrilled about Jesse.

Not being able to call the title games anymore, sounds more like he's getting demoted to me. Unless ABC/ESPN is looking at this to jumpstart the SEC Network...how much longer is Brent gonna call games? I'd have to imagine that Brent isn't happy about the changes. Did they change him about because of his age? I can't help but wonder if his comments on AJ's girlfriend had any impact on his contract talks with ABC.

I thought about the thread covering Brando leaving CBS...looked it up.

Here it is if you want to read over some of the thoughts again.

Thanks for reminding me what an idiot Oldtimer was.
 
First off, I'll admit I haven't put much thought into who I'd want in the positions. That being said, I don't mind Brent, not thrilled about Jesse.

Not being able to call the title games anymore, sounds more like he's getting demoted to me. Unless ABC/ESPN is looking at this to jumpstart the SEC Network...how much longer is Brent gonna call games? I'd have to imagine that Brent isn't happy about the changes. Did they change him about because of his age? I can't help but wonder if his comments on AJ's girlfriend had any impact on his contract talks with ABC.

You know me. There are few commentators that actually bother me. Those that do...it's all about how accurate they are in commentary. While Jesse does talk, a lot, I've never had an issue with his opinions. He's always backed them up with "this is why I think..."

I HOPE Brent's comments about Webb didn't affect this decision. Talk about an overblown story!!

Because of his experience I see the move bringing a lot of credibility to the network.

Look at this Matt...

Can you tell me who Ted Robinson and Glenn Parker are? If we ran a nationwide poll how many would recognize those names?

What about Matt Devlin and Glen Mason?

I'm guessing you recognized one name and that's Glen Mason (former head coach at Minnesota and Kansas.)

Those four guys are the lead game announcers for the PAC and B1G networks. Weigh that against Musburger and Palmer. Do you see where I pull the credibility card from now? Who doesn't know the name Musburger? Or today, Palmer, considering how much face time he's received on the ESPN networks.



Thanks for reminding me what an idiot Oldtimer was.

Yeah...gotta a chuckle seeing him in that thread. We'll see if Brando ends up at LHN as "rumor has it..."
 
You know me. There are few commentators that actually bother me. Those that do...it's all about how accurate they are in commentary. While Jesse does talk, a lot, I've never had an issue with his opinions. He's always backed them up with "this is why I think..."

I HOPE Brent's comments about Webb didn't affect this decision. Talk about an overblown story!!

Because of his experience I see the move bringing a lot of credibility to the network.

Look at this Matt...

Can you tell me who Ted Robinson and Glenn Parker are? If we ran a nationwide poll how many would recognize those names?

What about Matt Devlin and Glen Mason?

I'm guessing you recognized one name and that's Glen Mason (former head coach at Minnesota and Kansas.)


Those four guys are the lead game announcers for the PAC and B1G networks. Weigh that against Musburger and Palmer. Do you see where I pull the credibility card from now? Who doesn't know the name Musburger? Or today, Palmer, considering how much face time he's received on the ESPN networks.

Good point. Bunt was a bad analogy with that perspective...maybe they did swing for the fence and hit a good one.

Brent probably has 3-5 years left in the tank, heard his SECN contract is for 3 years.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A gracious Brent Musburger talks to <a href="https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch">@richarddeitsch</a> about his new gig. <a href="http://t.co/xWrxv2dsjO">http://t.co/xWrxv2dsjO</a></p>&mdash; Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) <a href="https://twitter.com/slmandel/statuses/443864615521222656">March 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
They missed a golden opportunity to use Blackledge and Nessler as the A-team. The absolute best in the biz right now.

If by "they" you're referring to ESPN...there's still their primetime game left to be called. I don't think ESPN has announced their lineups for 2014. Then we have one of the semi-final games to call as well.

I may have missed it...curious to know who fills in for Palmer on Thursday night (if they continue carrying a three man crew in the booth.)
 
If by "they" you're referring to ESPN...there's still their primetime game left to be called. I don't think ESPN has announced their lineups for 2014. Then we have one of the semi-final games to call as well.

I may have missed it...curious to know who fills in for Palmer on Thursday night (if they continue carrying a three man crew in the booth.)
Yes, I was referring to ESPN. I realize the primetime games on ESPN, but isn't the SEC primetime game the one that Muskrat and Palmer will be calling on SECTV. I'll admit, I'm totally in the dark on it. Probably for the best.
 
[MENTION=19574]riz[/MENTION] I haven't seen how they are planning on having the game selections. I suspect the SECN will fall behind the CBS and ESPN selections, but in which place?

Heck, I don't even know which game these two are going to call each week. I'm assuming it'll be the night broadcast, but who knows? It's possible ESPN has placed these two in hopes they can pull viewers from the CBS afternoon game.

You're bringing up a good question with which games the SECN ends up with. I'd certainly assume they'll have one of the two on that first Thursday night.
 
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