ESPN's Todd McShay to step away from the network

On3 imageby:Simon Gibbs09/07/21

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ESPN senior NFL Draft analyst and college football analyst Todd McShay announced on Twitter Tuesday that he is stepping away from the network.

The reasons for his departure, along with the length of his leave, remain unclear.

“I am going to take some time away to focus on my health and my family,” McShay wrote on Twitter. “Thank you ESPN for being so supportive and for all the well wishes – I can’t wait to be back on the sidelines soon.”

McShay in 2020 was taken off the broadcast of the Wisconsin-Northwestern game, and his coworkers calling the game — Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Molly McGrath — later confirmed that he left the broadcast due to illness. At first, viewers took to social media to question whether McShay was OK, after delivering in-game reports at an uncharacteristically slow pace with stutters.

Though the reasons for his departure are not public, fans expressed a similar concern about McShay on Twitter during Saturday’s game. McShay was reporting on the primetime matchup between No. 1 Alabama and the then-No. 14 Miami Hurricanes, and he seemed to have trouble with his delivery.

McShay first joined ESPN in 2006 as a college football and NFL Draft analyst, and he has provided year-round scouting reports, information and more on the nation’s top college football players. He contributes across a variety of ESPN properties, including live sporting events, ESPN.com, ESPN Radio and studio shows such as SportsCenter, NFL Live and College Football Live.

McShay debuted as a field analyst in 2014, and he’s frequently worked with Steve Levy and Brian Griese on calling games ever since.

Before working at ESPN, where he’s since picked up roles as the director of college football scouting for ESPN’s Scouts Inc., year-round NFL Draft contributor and more, McShay worked full-time for start-up scouting “The War Room” from 1996 to 2006. Created by former NFL scout Gary Horton, it quickly picked up speed and became a crosscheck for 16 NFL scouting departments; McShay’s move to ESPN came after the network purchased “The War Room,” renaming the publication to Scouts Inc.

McShay attended the University of Richmond, where he served as an undergraduate assistant for the Spiders’ coaching staff. He played quarterback in high school, leading the Swampscott High School team for four years, and served as a backup quarterback for Richmond in his first three years on campus, before sustaining a career-ending back injury. He graduated in 1999.