Welcome to The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter where you’ll always find the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis.

Did someone share this newsletter with you? Sign up for free to make sure you never miss it.

🎤 QUICK START ✍️

🏈 RG3 to Fox Sports. After being let go by ESPN last summer, Robert Griffin III will join Fox Sports as its No. 2 college football analyst, replacing Brock Huard. The former Heisman Trophy winner is expected to team up with play-by-play voice Jason Benetti.

🚨 Hanson talks future. NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson wants to return to the popular whip-around show, he told Yahoo Sports on Thursday. Hanson had previously been linked to a wide-ranging job at NBC Sports, where he would contribute NFL and Olympics coverage. He says negotiations with the NFL are “ongoing,” but the league wants him back for a 17th season hosting RedZone.

🎙️ Golic & Golic. The father-son duo of Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr. are taking their talents to FanDuel Sports Network after DraftKings opted not to renew their contracts earlier this year. The pair will reunite with ex-ESPN executive Norby Williamson, who is now heading the FanDuel-branded regional sports networks. The show will air weekdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

️‍🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

Will Shannon Sharpe ever appear on ESPN airwaves again?

The Shannon Sharpe saga continues to get uglier by the day. Ugly enough that, for the third time this week, he’s the lead story in our newsletter.

Here’s a quick primer on Thursday’s updates:

• Sharpe, via social media, released a statement announcing he would be temporarily leaving ESPN until the start of NFL preseason in order to devote time to his family and address these “false and disruptive allegations” head-on. Oddly, the statement he released was a screenshot of a text message, presumably written by one of his reps.

• ESPN released its own, very short, statement soon after Sharpe’s announcement. “This is a serious situation, and we agree with Shannon’s decision to step away,” the network said.

• Later on Thursday afternoon, a report emerged that Sharpe allegedly settled an incident in which he was accused of choking a female production assistant while employed at FS1, where he worked from 2016 to 2023.

• Sharpe’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, appeared on former CNN anchor Don Lemon’s YouTube show, emphatically dismissing any notion that his client would settle the lawsuit. Instead, Davis reiterated plans to countersue Sharpe’s accuser for defamation.

• Also on Lemon’s show, Davis oddly defended the age gap between Sharpe and his accuser, who was 19 at the time of the alleged incidents, chalking it up to “a certain mental lapse, imperfection in the human species,” which “applies to the male gender more than the female gender.”

• Finally, on Thursday night, Sharpe appeared on his popular Nightcap podcast for live NFL Draft coverage alongside co-host Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. The appearance would suggest that Sharpe has no interest in leaving the public eye, despite announcing his temporary absence from ESPN earlier that day, perhaps implying it was the network that actually forced his hiatus.

Yes, all of this happened in a single day. Now the question is, will Sharpe ever return to the Worldwide Leader?

And to be honest, it’s anyone’s guess. ESPN has been nothing if not inconsistent with how it handles talent scandals in recent years. Pat McAfee, for instance, can discuss salacious rumors about college freshman, or host guests that peddle conspiracy theories with no repercussion. Sage Steele, on the other hand, was yanked from the network after expressing political opinions that didn’t mesh with the company orthodoxy.

It all comes down to how much the powers that be in Bristol, Connecticut value Sharpe’s needle-moving prowess. Is the Hall-of-Famer, who was reportedly slated to cash in a nine-figure podcasting deal prior to these allegations, worth the objectively awful optics that this case has taken on? Are his Dallas Cowboys opinions really so valuable to First Take that ESPN will put up with this mess?

I’d lean no. But given that ESPN has kept itself at arms-length throughout the entirety of this scandal so far, it seems they’re taking the “wait and see”approach to business.

📺MEDIA MOMENTS📰

Thompson, Spears, Manning, and Arenas

• Charissa Thompson insists she is not leaving Fox. “No, I am not leaving Fox,” Thompson said on the latest episode of her Calm Down podcast with Erin Andrews. “I was never leaving Fox. I don’t know where this took on a life of its own.”

• Marcus Spears says NFL teams waiting on free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers are “dumb as a box of rocks.” We’re looking at you, Pittsburgh Steelers.

• Peyton Manning discussed his new NFL Playback series in partnership with Vice Media and his Omaha Productions. The series will premiere on VICE TV this September, with six one-hour episodes on consecutive Wednesday nights.

• Gilbert Arenas canceled Thursday’s episode of Gil’s Arena after his son, Alijah Arenas, a five-star recruit committed to USC, was put into a medically induced coma following a serious car accident. Arenas’ son is reportedly in stable condition.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

Famed menswear writer and editor Derek Guy had some not-so-kind words for Adam Schefter’s NFL Draft outfit. He wasn’t the only one complaining…

📈💰INDUSTRY INSIGHTS🧐

• MSG Networks — the television home for the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres — is reportedly nearing a deal with JPMorgan that will allow the regional sports network to avoid bankruptcy, potentially clearing a path for a merger with YES Network, per the New York Post. The deal would lessen MSG Networks’ debt and also stipulate lower media rights payments to the Knicks and Rangers. Ultimately, refinancing is the first step towards a potential sale, with YES Network being an obvious landing spot for MSG.

• YouTube will now offer NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers the option to pay for the out-of-market package in monthly installments rather than one lump sum. However, these payments are “non-cancellable,” meaning subscribers that opt for this payment method are on the hook for 12 monthly payments. Users that are also YouTube TV subscribers will be charged $31.50 per month, while non-YouTube TV subscribers will be charged a rate of $40 per month.

• According to a survey of NBA players conducted by The Athletic, just 34% of players hold favorable views on sports betting partnerships. 46% called them outright bad. Most of the feedback revolved around direct criticism that players receive when bettors select them and they don’t hit their needed totals. Despite the numbers, these partnerships aren’t going away. Many players acknowledged the revenue these partnerships generate is too much to pass up.

🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥

Shedeur’s slide put egg on ESPN’s face

Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft has come and gone, and the hottest name in this year’s rookie class remains on the board. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was passed over by all 32 teams, and made a lot of draft pundits look like fools in the process.

Chief among them is ESPN’s Mel Kiper, who spent much of the night singing Shedeur’s praises, only for two other quarterbacks to be picked ahead of him. Of course, Miami quarterback Cam Ward was the consensus No. 1 overall pick, but Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart was selected at No. 25 by the New York Giants, ahead of Sanders.

The focus on Kiper’s opinion of the Colorado quarterback was in many ways the centerpiece to ESPN’s draft coverage on Thursday night, much to the chagrin of some in the media.

Now, I understand both sides of this argument. Sanders was undoubtedly the storyline going into the first round. While many rightfully predicted his fall, others emphatically believed he belonged not only in the first round, but in the top five. So not only was he the biggest name going into the draft, there was also a high amount of uncertainty surrounding his eventual selection.

But, as FS1’s Nick Wright rightfully pointed out, the centering around Kiper’s opinion throughout the entire telecast was weird. Yes, Kiper is a legend, but him planting his flag in the Shedeur Sanders camp became overbearing when there were plenty of other storylines to focus on last night.

Mel Kiper disagreeing with NFL talent evaluators isn’t a story. But it was made to be one for much ESPN’s broadcast at the expense of the players actually being drafted.