Layoffs slowly have been unfolding at ESPN. Most have involved names not recognizable to the average sports fan but some of them are hard to ignore.
ESPN layoffs are continuing, and we found out last week Neil Everett will be leaving the network after a 23-year run.
The conversation has led to this week with an interview with Scott Van Pelt, who has been hosting the midnight edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" since 2015. However, it does not appear he would be doing that job for very long.
During an appearance on this week's "SI Media With Jimmy Traina," Van Pelt opened up about his future at ESPN and he made it clear that he won't be hosting "SportsCenter" on a full-time basis that much longer.
"I've been doing this a long time where, look, I don't want to do that forever," Van Pelt said. "And that would lead to the natural, 'What would you want to do?' I don't know. I don't know."
Here's how fans reacted to it:
Last month, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro cited parent Walt Disney Co.'s decision to slash 7,000 jobs and $5.5 billion in costs as the reason for the layoffs. Scott Van Pelt is speaking like a man who would ultimately make his own decision.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported the folks who are likely the most at risk of losing their gig "are the ones who make a lot and don't work that much."
Marchand specifically names Suzy Kolber and Steve Young as being potentially out, with Laura Rutledge "probably" filling Kolber's Monday night pregame hosting duties, if Kolber goes.
Kolber has worked at ESPN for most of the last 30 years, with a three-year break in the late 1990s, when she worked at Fox.
Whatever Van Pelt decides to do, he has a strong fan base that will follow him.
The post Sports Fans Are Incredibly Saddened By Scott Van Pelt's Comments On His Future At ESPN originally published on Total Pro Sports.