1. Earlier this week, friend of SI Media With Jimmy Traina, Peter Schrager, reached out to ask if he could join the show to talk about the phenomenal HBO documentary on Billy Joel.
We spent a good 30 minutes on Joel and the two-part, five-hour And So It Goes in the backend of the podcast, which dropped Thursday morning.
To kick off the show, though, we spent the first 30 minutes talking about Schrager leaving the NFL Network and Good Morning Football to join ESPN back in April.
The NFL Network never seemed to appreciate what they had in Good Morning Football (my words, not Peter’s) when it moved the show from New York City to Los Angeles a couple of years ago, resulting in the show being half studio, half Zoom.
Are there any hard feelings on Schrager’s end about the way his time with GMFB closed?
“No,” he said on the podcast. “I don’t think it’s hard feelings. For me, once they moved the show to L.A., I had a year left on my contract and I started plotting my next step. I don’t have anything left to give that show. I love that show. I root for it. In fact, I still watch it in the mornings when I’m flipping around.”
Schrager added, “I couldn’t do another ‘Whiteboard Wednesday.’ I couldn’t do another remote segment where we’re interviewing the same whatever-it-is another year. I just felt like creatively it was time, and my contract was up.
“Once they moved it to L.A. that to me—the future was on the wall. They look at this as a West Coast–based operation. I’m East Coast–based. I don’t like being the man in the box. I hated doing Zoom TV during COVID. I like being in the studio. I like having juice.”
Schrager tried to make things work, but the move was too much to overcome.
“I tried getting there as often as possible. I did a week of shows every month out in the West Coast. But it was waking up at 2 a.m. It just wasn’t sensible. I was not moving my family. I did the best job I could until the contract was up. Fortunately, ESPN was also interested in bringing me along.”
Schrager, who has already been called on to guest host Get Up and First Take in his first four months at the Worldwide Leader, is thrilled with his new gig.
Let's go. @FirstTake is humming this AM. pic.twitter.com/ccAVrbwwrq
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) July 24, 2025
“I started the ground running at the draft. I am so happy. I am so excited. Already I feel creatively energized and to work with new people and to get new perspectives. It’s been really cool.”
During the podcast, Schrager detailed what he expects his role to be with ESPN during the NFL season, he weighed in ESPN’s expected purchase of NFL Media and shared some thoughts on the upcoming season.
And then we spent a half hour waxing poetic about HBO’s A+ Billy Joel doc.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
2. Two reasons to watch tonight's Chargers-Lions Hall of Fame Game on NBC:
1) Bet the over 32.5.
2) Brent Musburger will join Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth in the booth in the second half.
3. Speaking of the NFL Hall of Fame Game , there might not be anything that exemplifies the league’s dominance in this country more than the viewership numbers for a game that won’t even feature a starting player.
Last season’s NBA playoffs averaged 6.13 million viewers. The NHL’s postseason averaged 2.5 million viewers. MLB’s wild-card round averaged 2.7 million viewers, the divisional round averaged 3.56 million viewers and the LCS round averaged 4.96 million viewers.
Here are the ratings for the last three NFL Hall of Fame Games. Keep in mind, last year’s game was called early in the third quarter because of bad weather.
2024: 4.93 million
2023: 6.4 million
2022: 5.8 million
4. In a bit of surprising news, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reports that the second game of the NFL’s regular season between the Chiefs and Chargers, which will air exclusively on YouTube, will have Rich Eisen on play-by-play and Kurt Warner on color.
5. Even with Caitlin Clark missing a lot of time this season, the WNBA is enjoying a ratings bump.
ICYMI: WNBA viewership is up 21% vs. the full 2024 season.
— Colin Salao (@colincsalao) July 31, 2025
Rundown (vs. FY 2024):
🏀 Total WNBA: 794,000, up 21% (56 games)
🔥 Fever: 1.26M, up 7% (19 games)
📈 Non-Fever games: 549,000, up 37% (37 games)https://t.co/coDSMq3AKN
6. This one is for my fellow Yankees fans. On this date in 1994, Phil Rizzuto was induced into the Hall of Fame. If you’ve never seen his speech or haven’t seen it in a while, take a few minutes and watch it today.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 46th birthday to The Office’s B.J. Novak. Michael’s crush on Ryan was always one of the funniest things about the show.
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 Peter Schrager Opens Up About Leaving NFL Network for ESPN.
