Jimmy Johnson shocked the football world on Monday.
The two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Dallas Cowboys announced his retirement from Fox Sports after an incredible 31-year run.
Speculation has been rife for a while now that the 81-year-old legend would call time on his broadcasting career.
On Monday’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Johnson made the news official.
“Probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my career, and that’s counting Super Bowls and national championships, was at Fox Sports,” Johnson said.
“I have an absolute ball with my friends on the set and the best friends I’ve ever had there with Fox.
“And I tell you, on top of that, you know, I love working for Eric Shanks, our CEO and our producer, Bill Richards.
“But I’ve made an extremely difficult decision, I’ve been thinking about it for the last four or five years, and I’ve decided to retire from Fox and I’m going to miss it.
“I’m going to miss all the guys and I’ll see them occasionally, but it has been a great run starting back 31 years ago.”
Fellow NFL-turned-broadcaster Shannon Sharpe reacted to the news on the latest episode of his ‘Nightcap’ podcast, which he co-hosts with Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson.
Sharpe immediately turned his attention to who could fill Johnson’s shoes.
“Probably Gronk [Rob Gronkowski],” Sharpe said. “That’s probably why they had Gronk sitting up there.”
Gronkowski is one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history, having won four Super Bowls, all alongside quarterback Tom Brady.
The larger than life character contributes to both Fox NFL Sunday and Fox NFL Kickoff on Sundays during the NFL season, but could take a more prominent role with the network in the near future given the void left by Johnson.
However, ‘Ochocinco’ has other ideas, interrupting Sharpe to throw his own name in the hat for the vacant Fox job.
“You want that job” Sharpe asked as Ocho raised his hand.
“I just raised my hand,” he replied.
“I wanna do as many things as possible. I’m not sure if I can be in two places at once. Can you imagine? First Take, Inside the NFL, Fox, Nightcap.
Sharpe proceeded to dash ‘Ochocinco’s ambitions, letting him know that rival networks like ESPN and Fox don’t usually allow talent to rotate between the two.
“They’re not gonna let you cross do it,” he said.
“Okay don’t worry about it,” Ocho replied, prompting laughter from Sharpe.
On Monday, ‘Ocho’ was a special guest on ESPN’s flagship sports studio show First Take alongside Sharpe, Stephen A. Smith, and Molly Qerim.
The former NFL star, who was inside the studio located in Manhattan, New York, got off to a hilarious start when discussing top NFL prospect Travis Hunter‘s comments, and went down a storm with fans who called for ESPN to sign him up permanently.
‘Ocho’ reflected on his First Take appearance on Nightcap, thanking Sharpe for helping put him on the show.
“I have no problem flying to New York every Sunday night, joining you and Stephen A. on Mondays and Tuesdays,” he said.
‘Ocho’ admitted he was a little shaky at first but grew into the role as he got into the back-end of the show.
“I’mma get better as time goes on but I enjoyed it a lot. I thank you again.
“I’ve been begging for a long time.”
Sharpe revealed he plans to take some vacation time in the coming months so ‘Ocho’ will have more than enough opportunity to make a return to the show.
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