Esiason Appears Next Jock TV ‘Find’

Last year, Howie Long and Anthony Munoz went to work at Fox. This year, Joe Montana and Phil Simms joined NBC. Sterling Sharpe got a job at ESPN, and Warren Moon is moonlighting at TNT. Football players with marquee names are lining up to get on TV.

The line doesn’t always form at the rear, however.

The next, hottest property - in football, at least - is quarterback Boomer Esiason of the New York Jets. Don’t be surprised if he one day joins ABC’s “Monday Night Football” cast.

All the others can step to the rear.

After losing 52-14 to the Miami Dolphins on opening day, Esiason could be available for broadcast duty by, let’s say, mid-September.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt among network executives that when he retires, there will be a spot for him,” said Steve Rosner, co-founder of Integrated Sports International, which places former athletes on TV.

Among its clients are Long, Moon and, uh, Esiason.

“He’s articulate, he gets right to the point without looking for controversy. I think he definitely is a superstar in the making,” Rosner said. “And sooner or later, they’ll need to replace one of the three announcers on ‘Monday Night Football.’ That’s definitely one place we’ve had some interest from. He did the pregame with them last season for the Super Bowl.”

Esiason is not ISI’s only announcer-in-waiting. Among the others is former Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe, the New England Patriots’ glamour boy.Any or all could wind up on TV.

ISI’s strategy is to take the big names, try to get them some TV exposure during their playing careers, then make some polite inquiries just before they retire.

“One thing we always ask our client is, ‘Do you want to be an announcer or a commentator?”’ Rosner said.

Out takes

Joe Montana made a relatively successful debut on NBC’s pregame show, “NFL Live,” Sunday, and has every chance to improve. The question is, will he take it?

“He made a commitment to NBC this year, but as far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t made a career decision,” said Rosner, whose company does not represent Montana. “Probably, it’s wait-and-see with him.

“NBC is taking the high-profile road. He’s one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. They get him for a few weeks and maybe increase their ratings, and maybe he’ll develop into a full-time announcer.”

On the other hand, Rosner said NBC sees Simms as a more all-around announcer.

“He’s been on the NBA sidelines, on a TV special, at the ‘NFL Quarterback Challenge.’ I understand he’ll be doing the Olympics, and now they’ve made him their No. 1 color guy,” Rosner said. “I think they see him as an announcer. I’m not sure they see Montana as that now.”

NBC’s Bob Uecker on widening the strike zone to speed up baseball games: “I guess that’s what the original strike zone was to have been, or started out as being: the letters to the knees. And in the National League, it’s always been a little bit lower than that. In the National League, it’s been the knees to the ankles. … Either that, or, like I said earlier, start in the fifth inning.”

The Fabulous Sports Babe makes her ESPN2 debut on Sept. 18 in an hour-long special.

ESPN will carry Cal Ripken’s record-breaker Wednesday night when the Orioles play California in Baltimore, with Chris Berman and Buck Martinez.