Salisbury speaks out on ESPN departure
Former ESPN analyst Sean Salisbury told the Los Angeles Times he felt underpaid and couldn't be happier about moving on to other opportunities.
As was reported by Ray Frager on the Medium Well blog, ESPN announced yesterday that Salisbury wouldn't be back and former HBO analyst Cris Carter had been hired to take his place.
"I'd grown tired of being punished for not being an NFL superstar," Salisbury said in the article. "Analysts who don't work as hard as me, don't prepare as hard as me, and don't have my resume were making more than me just because of their ability to throw or catch a football."
Salisbury said he knew that when he asked for a seven-figure salary, he and ESPN would have a "mutual parting."
Finally, Salisbury said he already has some offers, including one from FSN and a possible non-sports role with CBS.
If my memory serves me correctly, Salisbury isn't very popular among readers of this blog. I remember several negative comments when I posted the following video during the NFL playoffs. By the way, thanks to ProFootballTalk.com for the heads-up on the link.
Comments
I guess Mr. Peabody was making more money than Salisbury... That could sting enough for him to quit in a huff.
Posted by: black dog clan | February 28, 2008 2:08 AM
Well, a name such as Deion Sanders gets paid more because of who he is. I am sure Salisbury like many others underwent media training and worked their way up, improving their skill set. And here they wheel in the best retirees year after year. To be fair, not everyone is as full of himself as Marshall Faulk. I hope he (Salisbury) doesnt get as pathetic as John Buren. We dont deserve that. So, best of success, Sean. It sounds like you wanna earn it. I respect that, and sorry about the baked potato dig.
Posted by: HeWhoCannotBeNamed | February 28, 2008 3:51 AM
It's segments like this that got him his "release". That is NOT professional! Learn to talk sports and agree to disagree, not name call your elders, who are WAY smarter than you'll ever be.
Good riddance!
Posted by: Joe | February 28, 2008 5:48 AM
very glad to see salisbury leaving..hated him..ranks up there (or down there) with bill walton and vitale...too stuck on themselves and wantedtobe center of attention rather than the game itself...salisbury's role in Benchwarmers fit him perfectly
Posted by: fightingterp | February 28, 2008 6:31 AM
Never did like this arrogant know it all.
Good riddance. Thank the lord I no longer have to listen to him.
Posted by: Ben Kaufman | February 28, 2008 7:41 AM
I hope he takes the FSN job because I don't watch that. The man's ego couldn't even fit in the ESPN studio - he had turned into a jerk.
Posted by: Ben | February 28, 2008 8:07 AM
Hope he took "Little Sean" with him.
Posted by: virtueandvice | February 28, 2008 8:46 AM
i like sean. yes, he is arrogant, but, he had input to the nfl, then all the other talking heads espn hires. i can see where he would be upset, when you have guys like emmitt smith, keyshawn johnson in a big studio setting. and now chris carter. espn seems to like lap dog mentality. i also like trev albert, and he was fired i guess for similar reasons.
Posted by: ron nixon | February 28, 2008 9:22 AM
Bye Bye Pats suck up.....
Posted by: VIgnesh | February 28, 2008 10:14 AM
Good move by ESPN. Sean should have been fired right away for saying that to Clayton, and he wants a raise?! See you later.
Posted by: S | February 28, 2008 12:05 PM
Could not stand him. Typical schoolyard bully who needed to shout down and insult Clayton in order to try and win a debate.
So "full of himself" he would send pictures of his "stuff" to female co-workers.
Arrogant, pompous. I'm hoping he does not land on FSN, as I do watch it.
Posted by: bob | February 28, 2008 1:00 PM
See thats typical of Salisbury and its why a lot of people shouldn't miss his arrogance.
Posted by: Marcus | February 28, 2008 2:43 PM
Now if ESPN could figure out how to get rid of longtime fixture Chris Berman ,I may tune into more often .
Posted by: jack in hebron | February 28, 2008 2:56 PM
ESPN has become Inside Edition for Sports. Who is most Now? Fake MLB Press Conferences? What a joke.
Posted by: Who Cares | February 28, 2008 4:05 PM
Salisbury is a putz!!!! C Ya in the funny papers u clown!!!!
Posted by: martyb52 | February 28, 2008 4:08 PM
His likeablility factor was a 1-2 out of 10. That's why they released him! Who cares how much he knew/ how much he prepared!
Posted by: Rich | February 28, 2008 5:55 PM
He's lucky that ESPN stuck by him & didn't humiliate him during that incident that would have gotten anyone else fired for acting like a pig. How would the readers of this site like it if he had shown THOSE pictures to the women in their lives...wives, girlfriends, daughters, sisters, mothers, etc. ???
Posted by: tony | February 28, 2008 6:29 PM
Finally!!! I thought I was alone in my dislike for Salisbury. If he mentioned "how many 300 yard passing games did you have" again..... 7 figures for a clipboard holder to analyze ball games/players....seriously???
I had a 300 yard game by the way...1987 backyard and it took 4 1/2 hours to finish.. So there!!!
Posted by: Jeff Houtz | February 28, 2008 6:52 PM
Glad to see him fired. It should of happened a long time ago. He was so damn smug. Nothing but a back up his etire career, and as someone else pointed out in an earlier post, a school yard bully! I think it pist him off that John was so much smarter!!
Posted by: Henry | February 28, 2008 8:07 PM
Sean "Big Mouth" Salsa-Berry
is outta here, Now whose ass will "Anita" kiss to maintain her ESPN relationship ? MASN (Most Annoying Sports Name)
Hey WFBR or 1300 or whatever the call letters are this week. MORE PHONES and LESS ANITA !!
Posted by: Anonymous | February 29, 2008 12:58 AM
Sean was a decent analyst when he was first hired by ESPN, but the longer he was there the more arrogant he kept on getting. This season it became unbearable trying to watch any programming with him on it. He also started to 'jump on the bandwagon' after the Monday night games when he would analyze them on SportsCenter right after the MNF game ended.
Posted by: Stan | February 29, 2008 1:43 AM
This guy doesn't know anything about football, in that video his first statement is the giants are a better team without tiki barber. that pretty much sums up his knowledge as an "analyst" thank god he's gone, espn has become worse source for sports news. espn has become a joke, and after watching cris carter on it last night, i realized that i'll never watch it again.
Posted by: jacob | February 29, 2008 11:54 AM
Wait, I thought Sean already had gotten a contract a year or two ago worth over a million?
Posted by: Matthew | March 1, 2008 11:26 AM