ESPN has continued its ruthless overhaul with NFL legend and two-time Super Bowl champion Damien Woody the latest familiar face to leave after his contract was not renewed.
Woody, who twice lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy with the New England Patriots, has spent 15 years working at ESPN since he retired from the NFL in 2011.
He has been a mainstay on various shows across the network, including SportsCenter, NFL Live and Get Up. However, he is the latest big-name casualty in the most recent round of cuts by the network, following fellow former players Ryan Clark and Cam Newton in being let go.
Woody remains on air for the time being, making the choice to stay until the end of the month, and telling The Athletic: ‘Being at ESPN for 15 years, it’s been an absolute joy.’
He later wrote on social media: ‘Still processing it all but I want to thank all of my colleagues at ESPN who made it a joy to talk ball for 15 yrs.
‘Being a guy who had a serious speech impediment to working on tv was truly one of my proudest accomplishments. Looking forward to what God has in store for me next!’
Damien Woody (left) is leaving ESPN after 15 years after his contract was not renewed
ESPN has let a number of big names leave in recent weeks as part of its latest round of cuts
The former offensive lineman ended his NFL career with the New York Jets, and his former teammate Bart Scott has also left ESPN, where he was a New York talk show host and NFL analyst, with an expiring contract.
Woody was reportedly on a seven-figure salary at ESPN after FS1 attempted to poach him for a flagship morning show with Craig Carton four years ago, prompting ESPN to pull out all the stops to keep him.
They blocked the move and gave him a new extension, but informed him a few weeks ago if the decision, ultimately failing to reach a solution for him to stay as Woody now explores other opportunities in the industry.
“At the end of the day, I just want to talk ball,” Woody said.
ESPN is paying Pat McAfee a reported $30-million-a-year and currently negotiating an extension, although he does pay his sizeable staff from that salary.
J.J. Watt, who has just been promoted to replace Tony Romo at CBS Sports during his absence, recently created an awkward moment on The Pat McAfee Show when he addressed the ESPN layoffs head-on.
‘Slow, slow news day over there on the ESPN airwaves, huh?’ Watt asked McAfee & Co last month. ‘I mean, besides the fact that you’re getting $100 million… Did they keep anybody? Or is everybody fired to pay you? I’m trying to figure that out.’
‘We do not like that,’ McAfee said as laughter continued in the background. ‘We do not appreciate that. That is the narrative, and I’m certainly taking it on the shins. The boys and I are very proud of the work that we have done. Thanks.’
McAfee later addressed the layoffs on his show, saying: ‘On that note, we hate anytime this happens. Obviously, this is terrible. We don’t like that, but we are very honored that we are still partnering with ESPN and Disney for the good of sport for the future.
Pat McAfee is earning huge money at ESPN and is in talks over an extension with the network
Stephen A. Smith spoke publicly about his displeasure with Ryan Clark’s recent departure
‘And I hate this,’ he continued. ‘We actually, when we first got there, there was one of. It feels like this happens in corporations a lot, kind of getting baptized into this. NFL teams don’t really do this, you know, so we’re not really in there.
‘The first time we licensed the show through ESPN [in 2023], one of these happened, we got blamed for it all. It’s like blame us, okay, okay. Thank you.
‘I feel like you don’t fully understand budgets and where things are coming from, but I do appreciate that. This time we’re getting blamed as well, which I guess I can understand, but I mean, there’s billions and billions of dollars in these companies, and hard decisions have to get made, and we don’t like any of them, and we hope we’re an asset to the company going forward.’
Stephen A. Smith, who earns a reported $21million-a-year at ESPN, also spoke passionately about his frustration with the decision to get rid of Ryan Clark.
‘It hurts. It really does. I understand the business. I understand layoffs come. I understand that there have been other names that have been a part of it in the past and there’s going to be names in the future. Hell, one of them might be mine.
‘I am not happy about this decision one bit. The bosses know I’m not happy about this decision. I’ve made that very very clear.
‘But it’s also important that myself and anybody else in the world of business be grown-ups and understand that these are the kind of things that happen when layoffs happen.’
