John Anderson reflects on 25 years at ESPN

For many longtime ESPN viewers, tonight will mark the end of an era. After 25 years, John Anderson will anchor his final SportsCenter . The 59-year-old is stepping down and will return to his alma mater, the University of Missouri, to become a faculty member. Anderson has been on the network since June 1999 as an ESPNEWS anchor.

While he’s leaving SportsCenter , he is not completely leaving ESPN. He will appear on the Worldwide Leader in Sports for track and field coverage. We caught up with Anderson to discuss his career and this new chapter in his life.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Awful Announcing: How emotional do you think you’ll be during your final SportsCenter?

John Anderson: “I don’t know. So far, I’ve been very business as usual. I did start taking a few things out of my office, and I just thought, ‘Boy, wouldn’t that be an amazing game: Things I found in my office after 25 years?’ I’ve moved to about three different ones. Stuff gets boxed up. But so far, it’s been all right. I can’t wait to do the show. It may be different by the time I see Steve Levy, and it hits me that it’s the end.”

What does it mean to do this last show with Steve Levy?

“It’s great. I said, ‘Hey, any chance you’d come in for this? He did not hesitate. ‘Dude, anything you need.’ And John Buccigross said the same thing. I was kind of hoping to do both of them. (Buccigross) has got the NHL Draft, so he’s unable to be in the studio. I think he’ll be in the show at some point. Those people are really important to me because they were the people I worked with most often. They were the people that I certainly had the most fun with. It was neat to do one show with Linda Cohn because she was the person that sort of helped make my career.”

https://twitter.com/lindacohn/status/1801612210986488208

Have you thought about what you’re going to say?

“I really don’t want it to be a spectacle. I just want the show to be the show. So, no, I have not thought of any grand send-off. I want the show still to be about the show. I tell everybody that it’s nice that people know who I am. It’s nice that I’ve done the show. I want people to remember I did the show for 25 years. But I’ve tried never to forget that the only reason I’m on the show is as a conduit so that people can see LeBron James, Shohei Ohtani, or Patrick Mahomes. If I slip quietly into the night, which I was trying to do and messed up , that would be fine.”

What will you miss the most about ESPN?

“I will miss doing the show. I love doing the show, even on days when you’ve mowed your lawn, you went to the dentist, or you’ve done six in a row. You can’t help but be energized when 11 o’clock comes or midnight or whatever it is. Throughout the night, games happen. This guy’s had to walk-off hit. This guy has hit a bucket. Now you’re like, ‘Can’t wait to do the show.’ So, I’ll miss the show itself most of all, doing that and getting kind of that charge.”

What do you consider your most memorable moment?

“I can remember when we were in San Diego and I did the post-Super Bowl SportsCenter with Dan Patrick (in 2003). I did take a deep breath and thought ‘I don’t know that the job’s going to get better than tonight.’ That one will always stick out. The night Muhammad Ali passed, it was Bob Ley, Scott Van Pelt, and I. That was a significant event in terms of the subject matter. And it was also a kind of ‘this is what ESPN, when it needs to be, can be.’

“We did four-and-a-half hours. There’s Teddy Atlas and Joe Tessitore on the corner of some street, wherever they were in the middle of the night with Teddy throwing jabs, explaining how great Ali was.”

What is your favorite ‘This is SportsCenter’ commercial that you were in?

“I love the first one with Bon Jovi and Ken Daneyko of the New Jersey Devils. Gosh, there’s so many. I was fortunate. I was in some fun ones. The one with the Manning brothers and the one with Steve Irwin The Crocodile Hunter. Those I got the most reaction to. The one with Maria Sharapova was great because she was super kind when I left during the middle of it to sign papers for a home loan and didn’t get mad even though I told the people producing it that I was going to have to go at that time. The Kobayashi one was good. There was just a bunch of them.”

What about your new job, why go back to the University of Missouri?

“Because I love my alma mater. I grew up in Wisconsin. I didn’t grow up in Missouri but I adopted it quickly, and they adopted me pretty quickly. I’ve always loved the place. I am indebted to it. I don’t think I would have the career I’ve had if I didn’t have a Missouri J school education. I may not have been the greatest student because we had kids who were advanced. But everybody there gave me the time and gave me all the tools I needed to grow and sort of flourish professionally.”

What will be your official duties as Endowed Chair in Radio and Television Journalism?

“We have a little time to iron out exactly how that’s going to work. I’ll teach a couple of classes, whether that’s sports journalism, whether that’s broadcast performance, whether that’s interviewing, whether that is writing. There’ll be things to do within the faculty. I think there’ll be a little, hopefully, glad-handing to help continue to raise the profile of the journalism school. I’m pretty bullish on the place.”

What led you to keep doing ESPN’s track and field coverage?

“I (asked) ‘Can I stay and do track?’ They were accommodating. I don’t know if it’s because they think I do well covering track, or if they went, ‘Well, this is good. I don’t know if we have anyone lined up to do track after this guy.’ There are a lot of people that want to go to The Masters. There are a lot of people that want to go to the NBA Finals. I don’t know that they’re knocking down to go to the SEC Cross Country championships or the NCAA outdoor championships. I’ll get to do those things, which is great.”

You used to say ‘Behold, the power of cheese’ on SportsCenter. As a Wisconsin native, what are your top five cheeses?

“I love a good mozzarella but that’s not thought of as a Wisconsin cheese. A Gouda is very nice. I like a Kaukauna cheese spread, which is way different than the stuff you get out of a can. I like a cheddar , but I like it sharp. And then just good old American cheese . I feel like people mess it up every time they have a gourmet cheeseburger. They want to put cheddar on the cheeseburger. They think that’s amazing because everybody knows it’s a great cheese. It’s a bad cheeseburger cheese. It melts poorly. It gets waxy. I like it on a charcuterie board. I don’t think it’s the best cheese on a burger. I’ve tried to tell people that all the time. Maybe that’s what I failed to do in 25 years. Cheddar is great. Just don’t fall for it on your gourmet cheeseburger.”

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