The “NFL on Fox” pregame show will look a little different this season after a mainstay retired during the offseason, paving the way for a familiar face to replace him.
Fox Sports announced Friday that Rob Gronkowski would take over for Jimmy Johnson as a full-time analyst. Gronkowski, a four-time Super Bowl champion who played 11 seasons with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Johnson, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020 joined Fox Sports as an analyst in 1994 after leaving the Dallas Cowboys. After spending two seasons as an analyst, he returned to coaching, leading the Miami Dolphins as their head coach for four seasons. Johnson retired from coaching and decided to return to Fox.
In a March interview with Colin Cowherd, Johnson said that working at Fox was some of the most fun he had, including his Super Bowl wins and national championships at the University of Miami, but it was time to step aside.
“I had been thinking about it for the last four or five years, but I made the difficult decision to retire from Fox,” Johnson told Cowherd. “I’m going to miss it and I’m going to miss all of the guys. I’ll see them occasionally, but it had been a great run starting back 31 years ago.”
The rest of the panel that includes Curt Menefee, Jay Glazer and Pro Football Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Michael Strahan will return for the show’s 32nd season.
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Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.