New 'NFL Live' Debut Pushed to Next Week, Field Yates to Host in the Interim
By Liam McKeone
The brand-new version of NFL Live hosted by Laura Rutledge was set to debut today, August 17. Rutledge was scheduled to be joined by her new immediate co-workers in Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Mina Kimes, and Keyshawn Johnson. However, those excited for the new iteration of the longtime network program will have to wait a bit longer, as ESPN announced this morning that the new crew would not make their television debut until next Monday, August 24.
Per an ESPN press release sent this morning:
"With the 2020 NBA Playoffs tipping off today on ESPN, the new NFL Live commentator team will now debut next Monday, August 24, at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN. Laura Rutledge will host the show with a consistent roster of NFL analysts in Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Keyshawn Johnson and Mina Kimes. "
- ESPN
The announcement is a bit surprising if only because ESPN knew the NBA playoffs were slated to start this week for about a month and a half now. But the current circumstances of the world have, if anything, shown us all how quickly everything can change, so the fact that they waited until the last minute to officially announce the pushing back of the show makes a certain amount of sense.
In the interim, Field Yates will be the host of NFL Live this week. He'll be joined by Dan Graziano, Tim Hasselback, and Mike Tannebaum on Monday. Tuesday, Yates will be with Kimberley A. Martin, Booger MacFarland, and Tannebaum again.
On an ESPN conference call last week, Orlovsky and Spears were clearly very excited to get started on their new gig. They, along with the rest of us, will have to wait a bit longer.