Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina had Kyle Brandt on his podcast this week, and the NFL Network host shed some light on his audition for the Manningcast and finding Nate Burleson’s replacement on Good Morning Football.
Brandt was part of a small group of candidates that actually had the chance to audition with the Mannings before ESPN, and the brothers decided they didn’t need a host for ESPN2’s alternate coverage of Monday Night Football.
“There were some feeling-out meetings, a couple phone calls, and then we just did a straight-up audition, myself with Peyton and Eli,” Brandt described to Traina. “We did a game. And when it ended, one of the executives who was running the thing called me right afterward and said to me, ‘What do you think?’ And I said, the hype is real, they don’t need a host. They don’t need a third person. I think you should just do it with the two of them.”
Brandt’s old Good Morning Football teammate, Nate Burleson, left the show to pursue a hosting role on CBS Mornings. There are plenty of worthy candidates ready to replace Burleson, but the crew is making sure they check all the right boxes for the unique show.
“It’s a very difficult spot to fill, not only because of the obvious chemistry deal and the obvious work we’ve had behind us with Nate,” said Kyle Brandt. “It’s just like, we’re looking for an ex-player — he’s gotta be an ex-player, this is the NFL Network — and he has to be an ex-player who not only wants to get up at 4:30 in the morning every single day to go to a table to talk to three people who did not play in the NFL and are going to tell him his opinion is wrong. You also have to have that ex-player live in the New York-New Jersey area.”
With a month gone in the 2021 NFL season, there isn’t much of a rush to cement Burleson’s old spot. GMFB can take their time finding someone ready to take the role.
Listen to the full podcast appearance here.