Esiason Replaces Gifford on ‘MNF’

Frank Gifford, who has been a part of the “Monday Night Football” booth since its second year in 1971, will be replaced by Boomer Esiason next season.

Gifford will serve with a yet-to-be named co-host of a new 20-minute pregame show. The move was made at Gifford’s request, according to ABC spokesman Mark Mandel.

“Frank has been requesting a cutback for the last two years to spend more time with his family,” Mandel said.

Gifford was unavailable for comment Friday.

Keith Jackson was the original play-by-play announcer when “Monday Night Football” made its debut in 1970. A year later, Gifford replaced Jackson, who was assigned to college football.

Since then, Gifford, 67, has worked more than 600 games without missing one, despite the deaths of his mother, father and brother.

Gifford moved from play-by-play to commentating when Al Michaels came aboard 12 years ago.

With the cutback on “Monday Night Football,” Gifford is expected to become more involved with the Classic Sports Network, a recent Disney acquisition. Disney owns ABC and ESPN.

Reports that Gifford’s wife, Kathie Lee, co-host of ABC’s “Live With Regis and Kathie Lee Show,” went to Bob Iger, the president of ABC Inc., to try to save Gifford’s job are false, Mandel said.

ABC kept “Monday Night Football” this week at a cost of $550 million a year.

Said Michaels: “Considering what has gone on this week, and all the uncertainty over whether we would still even have ‘Monday Night Football,’ I haven’t given a lot of thought to anything else, but, yes, this comes as a surprise.

“I’m going to miss him a hell of a lot. The past 12 years have been the fastest and most enjoyable of my life, and Frank is a big reason for that. We’ve become very good pals.

“I just talked to Frank. He had arthroscopic knee surgery [Thursday] and still was a little groggy. I told him if he was looking for a situation to be at home more, this should be great, and I told him I was happy for him.”

Dan Dierdorf, the other member of the “Monday Night Football” triumvirate, said: “I think Al and I are on the same page on this one. We enjoyed being part of history, standing next to Frank Gifford, the man who has spent more prime-time hours doing sports than anyone else.

“Frank is a great man and a great friend, and I’m glad he will still be a part of the show. But now we look ahead to having Boomer in the booth, and I’m excited about where the show is going to go.”

Esiason told the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday that he won’t return for another season.

ABC did not confirm that Esiason has been hired to work Monday night games, but other sources did.

The Bengals were hoping Esiason, 36, would return for another season as their quarterback after he replaced Jeff Blake and went 4-1 as a starter last season. He had said he would consider his options--including those in broadcasting--before deciding whether to retire.

“This is such a rare opportunity, he should take it. And I told him that,” Bengal General Manager Mike Brown said. “He can ride this now and have a broadcast career starting at the very top. It would be the envy of almost anyone to start that way.”

Esiason led the Bengals to the Super Bowl and was the NFL’s most valuable player in 1988. After four years with the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, Esiason returned to Cincinnati as the backup quarterback.

Brown said he offered Esiason a two-year contract worth $8 million to stay as the starter. It wasn’t enough.

Esiason was traveling to Vancouver for the NHL All-Star game Friday and could not be reached for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.