Josina Anderson is out at ESPN
Longtime NFL reporter/insider Josina Anderson is out at ESPN, The Post has learned.
The move with Anderson has been anticipated since the Super Bowl when it was first reported that she and ESPN could be parting ways.
The official move with Anderson is unrelated to any cutting of personnel related to the coronavirus’ economic impact on Disney and ESPN.
ESPN declined comment, while Anderson did not return messages.
It is unclear what is next for 41-year-old Anderson. Over her nearly nine years with ESPN, she has had some good gets, including a sit-down with Antonio Brown this year.
However, she ran into trouble at times with ESPN executives. After the Myles Garrett incident in which the Browns defensive lineman hit Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with Rudolph’s helmet, Anderson tweeted, “I would bet Myles Garrett will say he heard Mason Rudolph call him something egregious. Never seen Garrett act like that, ever.”
She also tweeted out an image in which she said Rudolph grabbed Garrett in a private area. She later apologized for it and said other angles proved her original tweet was incorrect.
ESPN will replace Anderson with a combination of Field Yates, Jeremy Fowler, Dan Graziano, Dianna Russini and newcomer Kimberley Martin.
Submit your sports media mailbag questions here to be answered in an upcoming Post mailbag
Upon Further Review: The 30-for-30 “Lance” on ESPN was a really interesting documentary, which was more of a journalistic endeavor than the conflict-of-interest-laden but entertaining “The Last Dance.”
Armstrong was very cooperative, but that did not prevent the documentary from showing him for who he is — a ruthless person, who has done some good things and was involved in a sport that was totally draped in illegal activity. While “Lance” wasn’t the cultural phenomenon of “The Last Dance” and did not rate nearly as well, it is worth your time. I’d give it 4.42/5 clickers.
Clicker Consulting: In the near term, play-by-players and analysts, in many cases, will likely not travel with the teams they cover. It is understandable at this time with the impact of the virus. However, it should not be permanent.
While longtime announcers will likely be able to make it sound seamless, there will be a lot of knowledge lost if this were to become the norm. So, yes, while there is good reason when sports come back for broadcasters to not be on site as teams want to limit the amount of people at stadiums and arenas, TV executives shouldn’t use it as an excuse to save money when it is safer. If so, there will be a lot of insight lost forever.
Clicker Books: Dale Tafoya’s new book, “Billy Ball: Billy Martin and the Resurrection of the Oakland A’s,” is an excellent read about the early 1980s A’s renaissance, led by the always interesting Martin. Papa Clicker gives it 4.4 out of 5.