James Brown, the long-time host of The NFL Today on CBS, has no plans to retire. Nate Burleson is willing to wait his turn to replace Brown.
Via Brendon Kleen of Awful Announcing, Burleson recently confirmed his interest in hosting the Sunday pregame show during an interview with Front Office Sports.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” Burleson said. “I say that with the fullest sense of humility as I can.”
It can be very delicate to talk publicly about aspirations to inherit a job that remains filled by someone else. Burleson did his best to strike the right balance.
“I want James Brown around for as long as I can have him,” Burleson said. “I have learned so much, I wouldn’t be the person I am on-camera if it wasn’t for J.B. So, selfishly, I want to keep learning from one of the greatest to ever do it. And I don’t want a call from anybody else if I ever get that seat. I want J.B. to call me.”
Brown, 75, recently made it clear he won’t voluntarily be stepping aside any time soon. Networks, however, have been known from time to time to force awkward transitions, especially if there’s a concern that the designated successor may have a better opportunity at another shop.
Then there’s the reality that the looming expansion of international games could result in even more games that begin at 9:30 a.m. ET, which would make the traditional Sunday pregame shows even less relevant than they have become. Especially in an age of non-stop NFL news that makes shows like The NFL Today something other than the absolutely necessary viewing they once were.
If/when (when) the NFL gets its wish to stage 16 international games every year, more people who would be watching NFL pregame shows may instead be watching a live NFL game. And, at some point, the folks who count the beans may decide there’s no longer any magic to setting a perpetually-prepared table in the hour or two before a cluster of games commence at 1:00 p.m. ET.
