When ESPN signed Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from FOX to headline ‘Monday Night Football’ starting in the 2022 season, it meant the previous crew was out of a high-profile gig.
While Steve Levy and Louis Riddick stayed with the network, Brian Griese joined the San Francisco 49ers as their quarterbacks coach.
Levy spent two seasons as MNF’s play-by-play announcer and said it was a dream job.
‘To achieve that was really remarkable. Imagine you get your dream gig, the theme music plays, and nobody is in the stadium. (Louis) Riddick and (Brian) Griese and I were looking at each other,’ Levy said Feb. 10 on the God Bless Football podcast. ‘There’s nobody here, Piped in fake crowd noise and all that stuff. It was a wild two years. I really wouldn’t change anything. I landed in a great spot as the second guy.
“I’m the luckiest guy in the business. I just stepped in it, tried to treat people the right way, do the right thing, and work as hard as I can.”
Levy, who has been at ESPN for nearly three decades, said the only thing that would have upset him is if he was replaced by someone who was on his level.
‘Joe Buck is Joe Buck and I get that. My strength — honestly, and what’s really helped me in the business is — I know where I rank. I was never going to be that superstar,’ Levy said. ‘When I was doing SportsCenter, Stuart Scott was a superstar. (Scott) Van Pelt has his own thing. I try hard, I work hard, but I know where I stand and I rank.
“If it wasn’t Joe, it was going to be Al Michaels. Someone told me I was third on the whiteboard. That’s a good spot to be in.”
Levy called the Super Bowl with Riddick and Dan Orlovsky for ESPN International.