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ESPN shocked NFL fans around the country this week with its decision to lay off Tom Pelissero.
Pelissero, who joined NFL Network in July 2017, has become one of the best insiders in the business over the past decade. Despite all of his contributions, ESPN cut ties with him on Tuesday.
"On the NFL Network side, Pelissero has been a staple on the platform," Andrew Marchand of The Athletic wrote. "With the combination of ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFLN’s Ian Rapoport, ESPN moved on from the plugged-in and well-compensated Pelissero."
Although this can't be an easy situation for Pelissero, he's handling it with class. On Wednesday morning, the longtime NFL Network insider thanked everyone who has supported him over the years.
"Thanks to all of you who watched me the past nine years on NFL Network," Pelissero wrote on X. "Thanks to all of my colleagues who made the job fun and pushed me on a daily basis. Thanks to my family, who constantly made sacrifices to support me in a life-consuming job. I’m so grateful. See you soon."
Who else was included in ESPN's mass layoffs?
According to The Athletic, ESPN has also laid off longtime MLB broadcaster Karl Ravech, former NFL star Cam Newton and “SportsCenter” anchor David Lloyd.
Perhaps the biggest name released by ESPN was Ryan Clark, who apparently learned of his fate during Monday's episode of "NFL Live."
“Sources at ESPN say the reason they told Clark during the show was due to media inquiries into his departure and a fear that the news would leak out before they could inform him. Since after the Super Bowl in February, sources had told The Athletic that Clark’s job could be in jeopardy. Last week, The Athletic learned that Clark was likely to be let go,” Marchand wrote. “ESPN’s plan was to do that on Tuesday morning, but after receiving calls on the matter chose to inform him during his show as they did not want him to read it online before being told in person.”
Hopefully, all these terrific broadcasters and insiders land on their feet very soon.
