Montana Departs NBC; Moon Booted by Turner

The budding broadcasting careers of Joe Montana and Warren Moon ended, at least for now, on Wednesday.

Montana, through his management company, IMG, announced he has decided to give up his job as a studio commentator for NBC after one season so he can spend more time with his family.

Turner Sports, meanwhile, announced that Moon, quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, was told in January his services would no longer be needed.

The Turner announcement came on the same day testimony in Moon’s misdemeanor spousal-abuse trial began in Richmond, Texas. But Turner spokesman Greg Hughes said the timing of the announcement was coincidental and not related to the charges against Moon.

Turner used Moon as a commentator on its “Pro Football Tonight” program and also had plans to use him as an NBA reporter. Hughes said using an active player was an experiment, and it was decided to discontinue it.

At Moon’s trial, jurors heard a tape of a 911 call in which Moon’s son, who was 7 at the time, could be heard sobbing that his father was “gonna hit my mommy” during an altercation last July 18.

The call was placed by the family’s housekeeper, Elena Marie Morales, who told jurors she regretted making the call because “afterward I understood there was no need.”