Sports Media Insider Says 1 Young FOX Analyst Being Considered To Replace Troy Aikman
Over the last few months, we’ve seen FOX’s Troy Aikman openly discuss the possibility of joining an NFL club as a team executive. If that happens, FOX may have his replacement over at FS1, former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho.
Acho’s rise through sports media can only be described as meteoric. He made the move to FOX from ESPN, where he appeared on the network’s football programming, as well as the morning show Get Up!
Acho replaced Jason Whitlock on Speak For Yourself, co-hosting with Marcellus Wiley. According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, the network is considering making him the permanent host of that program, or giving him his own show as it looks to revamp its afternoon lineup, making him one of the faces of the network.
Now, there appears to be the chance that he gets called up to the big leagues. In the event that Troy Aikman steps down from his lengthy tenure as analyst for FOX’s top NFL broadcast team alongside Joe Buck, it could be Emmanuel Acho that takes that spot.
Emmanuel Acho, 30-year creator of 'Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,' is also being eyed as a possible replacement for Troy Aikman on Fox's No. 1 NFL TV team with Joe Buck.
Acho has a relationship with Roger Goodell. Aikman's talked about taking an NFL executive job.
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) May 12, 2021
McCarthy says that Acho would “likely battle it out” with the recently hired Greg Olsen. The former Carolina Panthers tight end has been setting himself up for a post-football media career for a while now, and is expected to be in the mix for broadcast teams as well.
According to McCarthy, an Aikman move to a team role isn’t the only possibility that could lead to Acho taking over in the booth next to Buck. He could also elect to step down from doing games and join the FOX NFL Sunday team.
Another option: the 54-year-old Aikman could slide over to the “Fox NFL Sunday” pregame show, opening up the top game analyst gig for the younger Acho. “Fox NFL Sunday” has been the top-ranked pregame show for decades. But it could use a shot of youth to go along with 72-year-old Terry Bradshaw and 77-year-old Jimmy Johnson.
Emmanuel Acho starting to develop a serious non-sports presence as well. Acho appears in a line of Lexus ads, he has an extremely popular social justice-focused YouTube series “Uncomfortable Conversations With A Black Man,” and he even stepped in for Chris Harrison on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose, the aftershow for the extremely popular reality TV show. There may be no sports media figure who has seen their star ascend the way his has over the last year-plus.
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