1. I’m a sucker for nostalgia and I will fully admit that maybe I’m caught up in the moment, but after seeing Brent Musburger’s appearance during the Hall of Fame Game on NBC on Thursday night, it’s hard to figure out why the legendary broadcaster doesn’t have a small role on one of the million NFL studio shows.
I mean, I know the obvious answer: Musburger is 86 years old and TV executives don’t like that and only want to cater to younger viewers.
But age is just a number, and if you caught Musburger’s appearance on Thursday, it was easy to see he still has the energy, the passion and the pipes. An 86-year-old Musburger is still more entertaining than most of the 40 year olds we see on these NFL shows.
Now, let me be clear. I don’t expect Musburger to be in studio for three hours doing a pregame show. But if I’m CBS (especially), or Fox or ESPN or NBC or Amazon or whoever else airs NFL games, after hearing him do the intro for the Chargers-Lions game, I’m reaching out to Musburger’s camp today to offer him a role to intro all of their games.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to take a break, but coming up, it’s the Hall of Fame Game. It’s two contenders! It’s the Lions! It’s the Chargers! Let’s look at their youngsters fill out the roster. You’re gonna have a great game tonight. Oh, by the way? The Lions are favored by a point.”
Legendary broadcaster Brent Musburger joined Maria Taylor to reflect on his career and give us one last toss to commercial. 😂
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 31, 2025
📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/VWR8r25QHG
I was ready to run through a wall after hearing that intro and it was for one of the most meaningless games of the season. And that closing line was just perfection. Give me that intro over that awful Carrie Underwood song any day of the week. Musburger wouldn’t even need to travel to do game intros.
If the idea of having Musburger providing game intros and bringing back his iconic “You are looking live” line doesn't appeal to a network, how about using Musburger on gambling coverage? Given the NFL’s full embrace of betting, it would be smart for one of these networks to hire Musburger just to read the lines for each game that week.
There is absolutely a way that Musburger can be used on any of these shows for 5 to 10 minutes each week. That voice needs to be part of NFL coverage again. And one of these networks should make it happen.
2. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with ESPN’s Peter Schrager.
Schrager goes in depth about his decision to leave NFL Network and Good Morning Football for ESPN, why he wasn’t nervous about making the big career move and how he feels about his time on GMFB.
Schrager also reveals what his role will be at ESPN once the NFL season begins, whether we’ll see him during Monday Night Football coverage and if the prospect of covering other sports besides the NFL appeals to him. Schrager also comments on reports that ESPN is interested in giving him his own show.
Other topics covered with Schrager include the status of the NFL going to an 18-game regular season, sleeper teams for the 2025 season and acts he’d like to see perform during the Super Bowl halftime show.
The conversation with Schrager closes with a deep dive on HBO’s excellent two-part Billy Joel documentary.
Following Schrager, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss MLB’s gambling problem after the suspension of Guardians reliever Emmanuel Clase. Plus, I recap my weekend of seeing Chris “Mad Dog” Russo's live SiriusXM show in New Jersey and Jerry Seinfeld’s standup show at Foxwoods. We also discussed the wave of recent celebrity deaths.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
3. I can’t say that I have a fully formed opinion yet on the NFL using virtual measurements instead of the chain gang this season, but after seeing the first virtual measurement Thursday I will say this: They need to spice this up. I don’t know if they need to add some music or some sound effects, but they need to build up the drama because the chain gang measurements were way more exciting.
Introducing the new virtual measurement system for first downs, which allows the NFL to accurately and efficiently measure the distance between the spotted ball and the line to gain. pic.twitter.com/QvlsSmWnSo
— NFL (@NFL) August 1, 2025
4. The Reds and Braves will play inside a NASCAR track tomorrow.
Here's the first look at an official MLB field inside a NASCAR track 🤯
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2025
The Speedway Classic will take place next Saturday, Aug. 2nd between the Braves and Reds pic.twitter.com/lJ5f027TKd
Hopefully they can give us a little of what they gave us on Thursday when each team scored eight runs in the eighth inning.
5. I’m old so I had no idea Machine Gun Kelly changed his name to mgk, but that’s neither here nor there. I only mention him because his song, “Don’t Wait Run Fast” will be the theme song for ESPN college football this season.
This is what college football sounds like 😮💨
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) July 31, 2025
@machinegunkelly's unreleased track “dont wait run fast” is the official anthem of @ESPNCFB 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZUfwXl6PaL
Here are ESPN's college football theme songs from past seasons:
Recent ESPN CFB anthems:
— Sports TV News & Updates (@TVSportsUpdates) July 31, 2025
2025: Machine Gun Kelly - ‘Don’t Wait Run Fast’
2024: Jelly Roll - “Get By”
2023: Post Malone - “Something Real”
2022: Yungblud - “The Emperor”
2021: DJ Snake ft. Rick Ross & Rich Brian - “Run It”
2020: Juice Wrld & Marshmello - “Come & Go” https://t.co/Oen9Hg4EC8
6. It appears that Josh Allen enjoys dropping some education on his teammates.
Josh Allen: Most Valuable... Physicist? 🧐
— NFL (@NFL) July 31, 2025
Hard Knocks premieres August 5 on @HBOMax @NFLFilms | @BuffaloBills pic.twitter.com/0nzff3HGY1
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: It was 44 years ago today that MTV was born. Young people will never understand how huge this was.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Memo to Any Network That Airs NFL Games: Get Brent Musburger Back on TV Now.
