Behind the Mic: Randy Moss Joins ESPN, Erin Andrews Stays Put at Fox, and Heather Cox Heads to NBC

Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Randy Moss is joining ESPN. He will serve as an analyst on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown from the site of each week’s Monday Night Football game. He will also contribute to ESPN’s annual Super Bowl week coverage.

Moss played 14 NFL seasons until his retirement in 2012, redefining the wide receiver position throughout his brilliant career with the Minnesota Vikings (1998-2004, 2010), Oakland Raiders (2005-06), New England Patriots (2007-10), Tennessee Titans (2010), and San Francisco 49ers (2012). Moss amassed 15,292 career yards and 982 receptions, including 156 for touchdowns, while earning Pro Bowl honors six times (1998-2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007) and First-Team All-Pro honors on four occasions. He was the NFL’s receiving touchdown leader five times, including 2007 when he set the NFL single-season record with 23.

For the past three years, Moss worked as a NFL analyst for FOX Sports on the Sunday morning FOX NFL Kickoff pregame show, among other programs…

Erin Andrews has re-signed with Fox Sports, inking a multiyear deal that will put her solely on NFL moving forward and end her run on Fox’s MLB coverage, SI.com confirmed. Andrew will continue as lead sideline reporter on the NFL on FOX’s A-Team including on the upcoming Super Bowl LI.

Andrews originally joined Fox Sports in July 2012 to host its signature college football studio show (Fox College Saturday), as well as have roles in its MLB postseason coverage and select NFL and NASCAR coverage. However, Andrews soon moved away from college football and she eventually became Fox’s No. 1 NFL sideline reporter , teaming with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Andrews also served as a field reporter and host of the on-field trophy presentation for Fox’s World Series coverage – a role that will now come to an end…

…Heather Cox, a reporter on multiple high-profile sports properties for the past two decades, will join NBC Sports Group on a full-time basis beginning at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she will serve as the volleyball reporter. Among her assignments, Cox will report from the sidelines for NBC’s new Thursday Night Football series and will work on Golf Channel as a news reporter on select golf events. She will also work other major events produced by NBC Sports Group.

Cox, who served as a reporter on NBC Olympics’ beach volleyball coverage at the last three Summer Games, has first-hand experience with the sport she’ll be covering in Rio (indoor volleyball). She was captain of the Sacramento Stars of the National Volleyball Association professional league (1993-95). A captain at the University of Pacific, her team ranked in the top five from 1988-91, and advanced to the 1990 national championship game. She was a member of the U.S. National Volleyball Team at the 1990 Olympic Festival.

Cox joins NBC Sports Group after 22 years at ESPN (1994-2016), where she served as a reporter on ABC and ESPN. She was the lead reporter on ABC’s college football, covering the primetime Saturday game and the last four national championship games. Cox also covered the NBA, the NBA Draft, men’s and women’s college basketball, and the WNBA. In addition, she worked golf’s U.S. Women’s Open, BCS bowl games, NCAA championships in basketball, soccer and volleyball, as well as volleyball Olympic Trials and World Championships. Cox initially joined ESPN to serve as an analyst on men’s and women’s college and professional volleyball, and women’s college basketball…

…On July 25, Max Kellerman will take over the seat next to Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim on ESPN2’s First Take two-hour weekday morning (10 a.m. – noon ET) live debate show. He replaces Skip Bayless, who departed ESPN for Fox Sports in June.

Kellerman will relinquish his roles on ESPN2’s Los Angeles-based studio show SportsNation and as co-host of Max & Marcellus on ESPNLA 710AM. His last day on ESPN Radio and his last appearance on SportsNation will both be Friday, July 15. Previously, Kellerman appeared across ESPN as a SportsCenter contributor, a guest host of Pardon the Interruption, and the original host of Around the Horn. He also hosted a popular daily radio program for ESPN 1050 in New York. Long known to sports fans for his insightful ringside boxing commentary, Kellerman contributed to ESPN’s boxing series Friday Night Fights and provided ringside color commentary on Tuesday Night Fights. Kellerman will continue his role with HBO on HBO World Championship Boxing, HBO Boxing After Dark, The Fight Game with Jim Lampley, and Face Off with Max Kellerman…

…Longtime ESPN Radio voice Marc Kestecher will serve as the lead play-by-play commentator for the NBA on ESPN Radio beginning with the 2016-17 NBA season. He will pair with analysts including Jon Barry, PJ Carlesimo and Kara Lawson to call regular-season, All-Star and playoff games.  He will work with Hall of Famer Hubie Brown on the NBA Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. He replaces Kevin Calabro, who joined the Portland Trailblazers on-air team full-time in advance of next season.

Kestecher, a 17-year veteran of ESPN, will continue to call NFL, college football and college basketball games on ESPN Radio, and will remain as a studio host for a variety of ESPN Radio programming, including the pre- and post-game shows for the College Football Playoff Semifinals and Championship. In addition, he will work select ESPN TV events.

Kestecher joined ESPN in 1999 as an ESPN Radio SportsCenter update anchor. He is currently the lead studio host for ESPN Radio’s Major League Baseball and college football broadcasts and is a fixture at major events like NBA All-Star Weekend, the NBA Finals, the NBA Draft, the World Series and the MLB All-Star Game. Prior to arriving at ESPN, Kestecher was an anchor, reporter and talk show host at WKNR in Cleveland (1996 – 1999)…

…espnW has added Kavitha Davidson and Katie Barnes to its roster. Davidson will serve as a writer for espnW and will also contribute to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, and will be based in New York. Barnes joins espnW as a Bristol-based writer/reporter.

In addition to her espnW duties, Davidson will also serve as a guest host on The Trifecta — espnW’s collaboration with ESPN Radio, co-hosted by Kate Fagan, Jane McManus and Sarah Spain. Davidson will make her ESPN Radio debut as a guest co-host on Robin Lundbergalongside Lundberg — on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. ET. Davidson was most recently at Bloomberg View, where for three years, she served as a sports columnist for the editorial division of Bloomberg News. While at Bloomberg View, she wrote about gambling in sports, domestic violence and women in the sports media industry, among other topics. From 2012 – 2013, Davidson worked at The Huffington Post, where she began in the office of Arianna Huffington, advancing to the Sports Trends department, before being elevated to the position of Associate World Editor.

Barnes becomes part of the espnW team full-time, having previously served as a Digital Media Associate with ESPN.com. They have written about a variety of topics within sports and in pop culture, including television series; LGBT equality; homelessness, transgender athletes; and more. Prior to joining ESPN in 2015, Barnes was a columnist at OutSports.com — writing monthly pieces on sports, culture and LGBT inclusion — and Feministing.com, where they wrote weekly columns on gender and equity issues.