Tom Jackson stuck his nose in so many snaps over 14 years with the Broncos’ vaunted Orange Crush defense, he could see the NFL from the inside out. He was in the middle of the game, up close to every detail. It’s no wonder he lasted so long as a broadcaster.
Jackson on Wednesday announced his retirement from broadcasting as an NFL analyst with ESPN, calling it quits after a 29-year term on TV.
“I have been blessed in my adult life to work for two companies, the Denver Broncos and ESPN, to do two things that I love — play football and talk about football,” Jackson, 65, said in a statement.
Jackson, who was , will work one final broadcast, the Pro Football Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, this weekend.
Jackson moved immediately from the Broncos to ESPN in 1987, the year the network first purchased NFL broadcast rights. He has been an integral part of their production ever since, including as a mainstay with Chris Berman on the NFL Primetime show.
“His knowledge, his passion, his insight, and his overall joie de vivre makes him special,” said Berman, Jackson’s partner for 29 years. “In television that’s almost two lifetimes. Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon were together for 31 years.”
A tenacious presence as a linebacker with the Broncos, Jackson over time carved out a broadcast identity that favored measured logic over snap reaction. He was a scholar among so many television blowhards.
“He has been the greatest voice of reason in our medium,” ESPN analyst Chris Mortensen said.
Jackson, the 2015 Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award Recipient, said his next priority will be to spend time with his family.
Here’s a clip from 1987 of Jackson working his first year with ESPN alongside Berman:
