In just a matter of days, Rich Eisen is set to make his official return to ESPN.<\/p>\n
Starting Sept. 2,\u00a0The Rich Eisen Show will depart Roku for ESPN\u2019s new direct-to-consumer streaming app. It\u2019s a reunion that, according to a new report by The Ringer\u2019s Bryan Curtis<\/a>, has been several years in the making. But it\u2019s also a reunion that could have seemingly happened sooner if it weren\u2019t for one former ESPN executive.<\/p>\n Curtis reports that ESPN had started courting Eisen for his return \u201ctwo or three years ago,\u201d but former executive Norby Williamson had other ideas. Williamson oversaw ESPN\u2019s studio productions for nearly two decades before his unceremonious ouster<\/a> last year after an incident in which Pat McAfee called him a \u201crat\u201d<\/a> during his eponymous show, while also accusing him of \u201csabotage\u201d after unfavorable ratings data about his daily show leaked to the press.<\/p>\n He now heads studio production<\/a> for the FanDuel Sports Network regional channels.<\/p>\n But before Williamson left ESPN, he apparently put the kibosh on Eisen\u2019s reunion at the Worldwide Leader. \u201cEisen said his return was delayed by the presence of Norby Williamson, the former ESPN executive who\u2019s now at FanDuel,\u201d Curtis writes. \u201c\u2018I think Pat McAfee removed the managerial impediment when he put a bullet in one particular individual by referring to him as a rodent on his show,’\u201d Eisen told The Ringer.<\/p>\n Eisen was widely praised<\/a> in his unofficial return to ESPN last week, hosting a throwback edition of SportsCenter after a\u00a0Monday Night Football preseason broadcast. The show ended a 22-year saga of bad blood between Eisen and certain power brokers at the network.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he came home from SportsCenter that night, I saw 22 years of wonder and questioning and pressure instantaneously lifted from his shoulders,\u201d Eisen\u2019s wife, former ESPN producer and current sportscaster Suzy Shuster, told The Ringer. \u201cIt was really drastic. I don\u2019t think he realized how much emotional weight he had put on himself.\u201d<\/p>\n After Eisen\u2019s contract was not renewed in May 2003, a table full of ESPN executives failed to attend his wedding reception just 10 days later. (Fellow ESPN anchors like Stuart Scott and Dan Patrick showed up \u201cen masse,\u201d according to Curtis.) Eisen would also regularly joke about not getting invited to the ESPYs, despite living in the city that hosts the event.<\/p>\n \u201cTo go from 22 years of viewing ESPN as them,\u201d Eisen said in the piece, \u201cafter seven years to start my career of viewing ESPN as us \u2026 For me to be able to put that to bed, it was palpable.\u201d<\/p>\n Decades full of sleights and resentment have finally been put behind him. And, at least in part, Eisen has McAfee to thank.<\/p>\n Ultimately, whether ESPN admits it or not<\/a>, McAfee\u2019s dressing down of Williamson last year at least partially led to his departure from the network. Williamson was a relic of a bygone era at ESPN, favoring standard-issue SportsCenter programming over new and innovative formats like The Pat McAfee Show.<\/p>\n Yes, there\u2019s irony here, given that Eisen made his name hosting SportsCenter, but Williamson has a history of holding grudges<\/a>. Clearly, 22 years wasn\u2019t enough time for Williamson to willingly welcome Eisen back into the ESPN fold. But in the end, that didn\u2019t matter. Eisen returns to help ESPN jump-start its new app, and Williamson has been cast away to the declining business of regional sports networks.<\/p>\n And yes, Eisen\u2019s return is made even more ironic because McAfee paved the way. Not only did McAfee\u2019s show create the licensing model under which Eisen\u2019s show will also operate, but it would\u2019ve never happened if Williamson were still working at the network. So even if McAfee might not be thrilled<\/a>\u00a0that he and Eisen will be sharing the same timeslot (McAfee on linear, Eisen on the app), it was he who unintentionally made this a possibility in the first place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In just a matter of days, Rich Eisen is set to make his official return to ESPN. 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