John Anderson took a well-deserved victory lap on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
Anderson hosted his final show Friday after 25 years at the network, before he heads to his alma mater, the University of Missouri, to teach broadcast journalism.
The sendoff began with a group of current and former anchors — including Neil Everett, Nicole Briscoe, Linda Cohn, Stan Verrett, Hannah Storm, Scott Van Pelt, David Lloyd, Jay Harris — giving their regards.
Then it was Anderson’s turn.
“I am really grateful. You could name a billion people who have been great here, actually more like thousands,” he said.
“But if [former ESPN VP] Al Jaffe doesn’t hire me, like so many of us, none of it happens. So we’ll go with Al Jaffe and then everybody in the wake of that I am grateful and thankful for.
Anderson said that he didn’t want a big sendoff.
“I really kept telling people, I’d just like to do this as a regular show and just quietly slip into the night,” he said.
Co-host Steve Levy deadpanned, “How’s that working out?”
Anderson kept the sarcasm going.
“I think we’ve accomplished that,” he said. “I think this was classically understated the entire time and I could just walk away.”
Anderson then continued his thank-you’s.
“I’m indebted to a bunch of people. I’ve always said Linda Cohn helped make my career here because she’s the first person that I sat next to, and she was a ‘made’ guy, so I had instant credibility,” he said.
“And then when I got to work with you, it went even more, because I was next to you, and everyone knows Steve ‘TV’ Levy. And I benefitted greatly from being next to you so many times. We had so many great times, except for the night we were here and it was a 22-inning game in San Diego. But I don’t have to worry about that anymore because Zubin [Mehenti] will be doing all my shows.”
Anderson and Levy embraced, and Levy gave one final sendoff as the show’s credits began to roll.
