Anyone who has watched a single second of the NFL over the last I don’t know how long knows John Clayton is a damn legend. Even if the man didn’t know his shit, he still possesses the sheer electric personality to captivate an entire audience.
Courtesy of Pro Football Talk:
ESPN has let go of yet another longtime NFL reporter.
John Clayton, who has covered the NFL for ESPN for 23 years, has been laid off, according to Sporting News.
Clayton’s ESPN Radio show in Seattle will remain in place, as the local ESPN Radio affiliates are not actually owned by ESPN. But he is done covering the league for ESPN on television and on ESPN.com.
Unbelievable. As long as I’ve liked football, I’ve liked John Clayton. I’m fairly positive he is omnipotent. He knows what’s going on, inside and out, with 32 of the NFL’s 32 teams. He’s like the Walter Cronkite of football reporting. Just magnetic, engaging, and well-informed. I can’t say enough nice things about Mr. Clayton. In case you were wondering whether his renowned sense of humor would remain intact or not, Clayton issued this tweet of solid fire earlier today:
By the way I am keeping the ponytail
— John Clayton (@ClaytonESPN) May 31, 2017
But, boy – ESPN must be hurting. I mean, business must be anything but booming. They keep laying off talent, which one can only assume is a means to ‘stop the bleeding’ of being behind the curve for years now.
Instead of seeing that we’re clearly heading towards more of an a la carte programming age, or that most people are cutting cords altogether, ESPN was adding channels, adding programming, adding talent, and jacking the prices up along the way.
Whether you agree with it or not, taking an obvious political stance has hurt ratings. People tune in to sports to get away from all of the bullshit that clouds the news and our social media feeds. Regardless of which side of the spectrum you sit on, it’s just never been a good mix. I hate that people like Clayton, Ed Werder, and personal favorite of the site, Paul Kuharsky, get the axe for a company’s humongous blunders…
At least it gives us a chance to revisit the greatest ‘This Is SportsCenter’ commercial of all time:
John Clayton will always hold the distinction of the greatest SportsCenter commercial ever. pic.twitter.com/Jhde4rF7W7
— Jason Romano (@JasonRomano) May 31, 2017
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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