Behind the Mic: FOX NASCAR Presents Broadcast Team Prior to Daytona 500; Greg Olsen Joins Fox NFL Crew

Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Fox Sports unveils its NASCAR booth, Greg Olsen joins the Fox NFL broadcast team, ESPN plans to maintain its Monday Night Football booth heading into next season, ESPN resigns boxing great Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley Jr, and more.

FOX NASCAR Booth Readies for Daytona Debut

Starting the engines on its 21st season of NASCAR coverage and its 18th as home to The Great American Race, FOX Sports sets its Daytona Speedweeks talent assignments.

Highlighting the 2021 season openers, NASCAR CUP SERIES driver Clint Bowyer joins the FOX NASCAR CUP SERIES booth for his first DAYTONA 500 (Sunday, Feb. 14, at 2:30 PM ET on FOX), and veteran motor sports reporter Jamie Little makes her historic move to the ARCA MENARDS SERIES broadcast booth as the first female play-by-play announcer for a nationally televised motor sports series.

Additionally, three-time NASCAR CUP SERIES champion and NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Tony Stewart joins Adam Alexander and Bowyer on the call for the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race at Daytona (Saturday, Feb 13, at 5:00 PM ET on FS1), with Regan Smith and Vince Welch reporting from the pits. The prerace team consists of Shannon Spake, NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Bobby Labonte and Larry McReynolds.

Mike Joy, covering his 42nd DAYTONA 500 for live television or radio, handles DAYTONA 500 play-by-play, with NASCAR Hall-of-Famer and four-time NASCAR CUP SERIES champion Jeff Gordon and Bowyer serving as analysts. In addition to her new role with the ARCA MENARDS SERIES, Little also continues as a DAYTONA 500 pit reporter, alongside Smith and Welch. (Fox Sports)

Greg Olsen Joins FOX NFL Broadcast Team

On the latest edition of FOX NFL Sunday, three-time Pro Bowler Greg Olsen announced his retirement from the NFL and shared that he will be joining the FOX NFL broadcast team. A three-time Pro Bowler, Olsen spent his last season with the Seattle Seahawks after a nine-year stint with the Carolina Panthers. (Twitter)

Michael Strahan Tests Positive for COVID-19

Pro Football Hall of Famer and Good Morning America host Michael Strahan has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-quarantining. He is currently not experiencing any severe symptoms from COVID-19.

Strahan, who also provides analysis on the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show, appeared remotely during last Sunday’s NFC championship game. (TV NewsCheck)

ESPN Moves Forward With Current Monday Night Football Booth

ESPN is planning to keep its Monday Night Football broadcast team, with the return of Steve Levy, Louis Riddick, and Brian Griese. In addition, the network will talk with recently retired quarterback Philip Rivers about joining as an NFL analyst. (New York Post)

ESPN ‘Bracketologist’ Joe Lunardi Inks New Multi-Year Deal

College basketball’s leading ‘Bracketologist’ Joe Lunardi has signed a new multiyear deal to continue with ESPN for years to come. Lunardi, a 25-year veteran at ESPN, has been a staple voice and resource for NCAA Tournament field projections, ‘bubble watch’ and more since his first post-season NCAA Tournament Guide debuted in 1995.

In addition to Lunardi’s contributions on ESPN.com, he provides real-time, in-season bracket analysis and updates during ESPN’s game and studio coverage from his “Bracket Bunker.” He also contributes to SportsCenter and other ESPN shows and platforms leading up to Selection Sunday. Last season, The Bracketology Show debuted on ESPN+, offering a deep-dive into the projected bracket each week.

ESPN’s The Undefeated Signs Senior Entertainment Writer Kelley Carter to a Contract Extension

Award-winning journalist Kelley Carter has signed a new contract to remain with ESPN’s The Undefeated as Senior Entertainment Writer. She joined the multiplatform content initiative in its inaugural year in 2016. Today, Carter announced the agreement and shared details about upcoming episodes of the self-titled digital interview series Another Act with Kelley Carter, from her Los Angeles-based office. (ESPN)

Lauren Thompson Joins NBC Sports Group’s Digital Golf Businesses, GolfNow, and Clubhouse Solutions

Lauren Thompson, one of GOLF Channel’s most popular on-air personalities, will continue to champion the sport of golf in her next role, announcing today she has joined GolfNow and Clubhouse Solutions, two of the businesses within the NBC Sports Group digital portfolio.

Thompson primarily will serve as the host of the Clubhouse Bulletin, a white-label video newsletter offering by Clubhouse Solutions, which recaps monthly member news for participating private clubs throughout the U.S. She also will host other promotional and business videos for GolfNow, which operates golf’s leading online tee-time marketplace and is the industry’s No. 1 technology and services provider to more than 9,000 golf courses around the world.

ESPN Re-Signs Boxing Great and Three Time World Champion Timothy Bradley Jr. as Ringside Analyst for Top Rank on ESPN

Boxing great and future Hall of Famer Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley Jr., a former two-division world titleholder, has agreed to a new contract extension with ESPN, it was announced today. Bradley joined ESPN in 2016.

Under the agreement, Bradley will continue to serve as boxing analyst for Top Rank on ESPN and appear on a variety of ESPN platforms including ESPN+. He will also continue to work alongside ESPN’s boxing announce team, including Mark Kriegel, Bernardo Osuna, Joe Tessitore, and Andre Ward, on pre- and post-shows and ringside contributions.

Bradley joined ESPN as a guest analyst prior to his retirement from professional boxing in 2016called some of the highest rated fights of 2020, along with some of biggest recent fights in the sport, including Pacquiao vs. Horn (November 2017), Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux (December 2017), Crawford vs. Benavidez, (October 2018), Linares vs. Lomachenko (May 2019), Wilder vs. Fury II (February 2020) and Lomachenko vs. Lopez (December 2020).

Bradley held three world championships in two divisions (WBC light welterweight, WBO light welterweight and WBO welterweight). He retired in 2017, finishing his career with a record of 33-2-1, with 13 of his victories by way of knockouts. He won his first world title fight, light welterweight, in 2008 when he upset champion Junior Witter in England. (ESPN)