2009 NFL Football Coverage Undergoing Some Big Changes

There are a lot of changes going on in this year's coverage of the NFL. What kind of "inside the game perspective" can we expect?

With John Madden leaving the sports coverage industry, a lot of things have been moved around on NBC's broadcast of Sunday Night Football, a.k.a. "Football Night in America." For starters, Chris Collinsworth will be taking Madden's place and will be calling games with Al Michaels. Collinsworth has always brought a straightforward perspective to his analysis of football games. Often pointing out the little things that players are doing wrong both on and off the field, Collinsworth does a great job of defining the line between success and failure in the NFL. While he won't be as colorful as John Madden (and who would be), he will be a lot better shining a light on the lesser-known aspects of the game that make a big difference in football contests.

Of course, if Collinsworth is in the booth, that means someone has to take his spot in the studio-actually, make that two somebodies. Tony Dungy, the recently retired Indianapolis Colts head coach, will be one of those somebodies, becoming the only coach in the studio, and the first one in quite some time. Even though Dungy was a part of NBC's coverage of the Super Bowl this past year, many people doubt whether or not Dungy can offer up the type of criticism and objective analysis that drives sports coverage. Dungy is the nicest person you will ever meet, and he hasn't said very many bad things about anyone. Thus, it will be interesting to see how willingly he brings that coach's eye and mouth to the broadcast.

Rodney Harrison will also be joining Dungy in the NBC Studio. The just-retired safety, who was also known as the dirtiest player in the NFL, will bring his fierce opinions and commentary to the broadcast. Harrison is the exact opposite of Dungy, as he probably gave more than his fair share of criticism before he even started covering NFL games professional. No one has any idea how he will be when he is forced to give his opinions, but many doubt that he won't be extremely entertaining.

Moving on to another network, ESPN will be welcoming John Gruden to the booth for its coverage of Monday Night Football. In a somewhat surprising move that saw Tony Kornheiser "step down" from the position, ESPN wasted no time signing the very vocal Gruden, who recently found himself without a coaching gig for the upcoming season. Over the past couple of years, Gruden has given the media some of their best material. From his feuding with Keyshawn Johnson, to his touting of the mantra "pound that rock" that led his 2002 Bucs to a Super Bowl, Gruden has never shied away from the attention. Now he will get 3 hours of media time every week. Gruden has never actually had a regular broadcasting gig before, so this will be the first time the nation gets to hear him on television. However, he definitely has a tremendous understanding of NFL offenses, thus the prospect of hearing his analysis alongside that of Ron Jaworski's should make the football purists very excited.