ESPN Monday Night Football crew, NFL players and Military Members to be Part of Two-Hour Show at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii
ESPN2 will televise the 2016 Pro Bowl Draft presented by USAA live from Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii, on Wednesday, January 27, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Monday Night Football voice Mike Tirico will host the two-hour show with ESPN boothmate and Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden, and Hall of Fame wide receivers and NFL Legends captains Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice. MNF reporters Lisa Salters and John Sutcliffe will serve as on-site reporters.
The show will resemble a NFL Draft team meeting with Tirico, Gruden, Irvin and Rice gathered around a table, discussing which players to select for the unconferenced teams that will compete in the Pro Bowl. Fans at home will be able to watch and listen to the decision-making process in this ultimate Fantasy Football player draft.
The ESPN telecast will focus on skill-position players, using highlights from the 2015 NFL season. Gruden will also prepare some of his own film room segments as he does on MNF and in his annual Gruden’s QB Camp series.
Separate from the draft room, the Pro Bowl players will watch the draft unfold in an adjacent airplane hangar where they will be joined by servicemen and women representing all five military branches, and family members. Salters and Sutcliffe will conduct interviews with both players and military members who are part of the live audience.
ESPN’s presentation of the Pro Bowl Draft will also include four first-person features from veterans of Wheeler and Pearl Harbor.
The 2016 Pro Bowl Draft will be produced by ESPN’s Monday Night Football team, led by the producer-director duo of Jay Rothman and Chip Dean, who just completed their 25th season working together.
“Our goal is to put a brand new spin on this Pro Bowl draft show – we want fans to feel like they’re eavesdropping on a production meeting,” Rothman said. “We also feel it’s important to showcase where we are so we’ll sprinkle in scenes from Wheeler and Pearl Harbor and pay tribute to those who served and serve our country.”
ESPN’s MNF team will also present the 2016 Pro Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 31 (7 p.m., ESPN, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN) from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.
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