Simpson Will Replace Rashad on NBC-TV’s ‘NFL Live’
O.J. Simpson, dropped by ABC after the 1985 football season, is returning to network television on NBC’s “NFL Live” pregame show for the 1989 season. He will replace Ahmad Rashad, who will become a game anaylst.
USA Today quoted Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports president, as saying: “We ran a survey, and we found that 10 years after he’s retired, O.J. still is the most recognizable football personality.”
The move came two days after NBC announced that it had hired ex-San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh to replace Merlin Olsen as its No. 1 NFL analyst.
Bob Costas will remain as the main host of “NFL Live,” but Gayle Gardner will be reassigned and reporter Jim Gray, despite breaking a number of major stories, will not return.
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