Behind the Mic: Bleacher Report's Sports Betting Coverage Cashes in on Cabbie' Richards By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor Tuesday, September 10, 2019 - 8:00 am
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Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, Bleacher Report is expanding their sports betting editorial coverage, Turner Sports re-ups with a familiar face from the WNBA, a long-time ESPN veteran returns to the company at the start of the NFL season, a former NFL coach joins the ranks at ESPN, and a Chicago Bears legend signs on at NBC Sports Chicago.
Bleacher Report is welcoming long-time TSN on-air talent, Cabral Cabbie Richards, to contribute hosting duties for B/R Betting programming out of the B/R Studio in the Las Vegas Caesars Sportsbook. Cabbie will start co-hosting duties on the newly launched B/R Betting Show alongside betting expert Kelly Stewart and will contribute to other original programs across Bleacher Report.
For the better part of two decades, Richards has been changing the landscape of the traditional athlete interview, adding pop culture, props and assorted hijinks. From Michael to Kobe to Rodgers to Mahomes, Richards disarmed A-listers in his light-hearted Cabbie Presents segments on TSN's Sportscentre. Crossing over into entertainment, from giving Drake business cards to presenting Bill Murray logo ideas, singing with Kevin Hart or interviewing Will Ferrell in a bathroom, Richards delivered a unique style of interviews. Additionally, Cabbie hosted TSN's ESPY Red Carpet coverage, the Toronto Raptors NBA Playoffs coverage, and hosted 150 episodes of his podcast Cabbie Presents
Turner Sports has reached a multi-year extension with Candace Parker, one of the most decorated women's basketball players of all-time, who will continue making full-time contributions as an analyst and commentator for the NBA on TNT, NBA TV, and NCAA Tournament coverage. She will also co-host a new podcast alongside Kristen Ledlow that will debut this season. Parker initially joined Turner Sports as a basketball commentator for the 2018-19 NBA season and 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
Parker, currently a member of the WNBA's L.A. Sparks, will be an integral part of TNT's NBA coverage, primarily as a studio analyst for the network's Tuesday night telecasts. She will also contribute analysis for NBA TV studio shows, while continuing her role as studio analyst for Turner Sports and CBS Sports' NCAA Tournament coverage.
In 2016, Parker led the L.A. Sparks to a WNBA Championship, in which she was named WNBA Finals MVP. She was named WNBA All-Star Game MVP in 2013, along with being elected to six All-WNBA teams and five All-Star teams. Parker also led Team USA Women's Basketball to back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Games.
Just in time for the NFL season, Veteran reporter Ed Werder has rejoined ESPN as a Dallas-based bureau reporter for SportsCenter and studio programming, covering various sports from Dallas, including the Cowboys, a team Werder first began reporting on in 1989. Werder had previously covered the NFL for ESPN from 1998 to 2017.
Overall, Werder has covered the NFL for nearly 40 years and in 2017 was honored with the prestigious Dick McCann Award presented by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).
Raised in Longmont, Colo., Werder graduated from University of Northern Colorado in 1982 and worked mostly in newspapers during the 1980s and 1990s with stops at the Daily Camera (Boulder, Col.), The National, the Orlando Sentinel, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News, where Werder was recognized for a series of reports chronicling the deteriorating relationship between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and then-head coach Jimmy Johnson
Jack Del Rio, the former Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders head coach who has spent more than three decades in the National Football League as a coach and player, has joined ESPN as an NFL analyst. He has appeared on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, and more throughout the year.
A 12-year NFL head coach, Del Rio led the Jacksonville Jaguars for nine seasons (2003-11) and, more recently, the Oakland Raiders (2015-17), guiding his teams to three playoff appearances and 97 victories
NBC Sports Chicago has announced Chicago Bears legend/six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz has joined the network as a game day studio analyst for the upcoming 2019 NFL season. In addition to his game day analyst role, which includes joining former Bears teammates Lance Briggs, Alex Brown, Matt Forte, and host Laurence Holmes on Football Aftershow presented by Sprinkler Fitters Local Union 281 immediately following every Bears game, Kreutz is also scheduled to make additional appearances throughout the NFL season on a variety of NBC Sports Chicago's programs and cross-platform content offerings.
Kreutz, a third-round pick out of Washington in the 1998 NFL Draft (64th overall), spent 13 of his 14 pro seasons in a Bears uniform and is tied for second with Steve McMichael on the team's all-time games played list (191), trailing only former Bears teammate Patrick Mannelly (245). In addition, Kreutz trails only Walter Payton by one game on the team's all-time games started list with 183. Among Kreutz' honors in his illustrious Bears career include six Pro Bowl appearances (2001-06), first-team (2006) and second-team (2005) All-Pro selections, being named to the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team, along with being honored as a four-time recipient of the prestigious Brian Piccolo Award (2003, 2004, 2009, 2010).
