ESPN Hoping to Revive NFL Coverage By Bringing Back Chris Berman

One of ESPN’s most historic personalities could be coming back, back, back, back …

According to The New York Post, the powers that be at the Worldwide Leader are trying to coax Chris Berman out of semi-retirement for an expanded role during the forthcoming NFL season.

The move is likely being made in the hopes that Berman, who has long been associated with football on the network, will help reverse declining ratings on Monday Night Football and ESPN’s other NFL programming.

Last year, Berman did some short pieces on Monday nights but was not on the air throughout the bulk of the football season.

ESPN isn’t offering Berman the chance to host Sunday NFL Countdown as he did in the past, but may give him the chance to anchor Sunday night editions of SportsCenter some weeks.

Berman’s return would be in line with executive vice president of production Norby Williamson beginning to go back to the network’s roots with its studio programming offerings.

She previously was able to convince Keith Olbermann to return to a larger role on ESPN.

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Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”