The smartest decision Jason Witten made during his brief TV career was ending it.
Witten shocked the sports media world Tuesday by announcing he was quitting his job as lead analyst of ESPN's "Monday Night Football" to return to the Cowboys for a 16th NFL season. The classy tight end did it in his typical, stand-up guy fashion, stating, "This was completely my decision, and I am very comfortable with it. I'm looking forward to getting back in the dirt."
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Serving as lead game analyst on "Monday Night Football" is still one of the primo jobs in sports. But when Witten looks back at this decision a few months from now, I don't think he'll regret it.
First, the 36-year-old was never going to escape the shadow of Tony Romo, his former quarterback and road roommate who became the toast of sports TV as lead game analyst for CBS Sports. Romo was a game-changer when he entered the broadcast booth a year before Witten. He quickly has become the new John Madden, with many calling him the best analyst on TV, period. Romo has a natural elan on TV that Witten simply does not possess. The earnest Witten came off like a Boy Scout who studied too hard for the big test.
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I don't care how much game film Witten watched or how many simulated games he called this offseason. He probably was not going to match Romo, much less Cris Collinsworth of NBC or Troy Aikman of Fox, and he knew it.
Witten has rarely tasted failure, but he did on TV, and it wasn't pretty.
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Speaking of shadows, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for Witten to escape his harshest critics on social media.
Early on, Witten gave Twitter trolls plenty of ammo, with his Norm Crobsy-like malapropisms (such as Aaron Rodgers pulling a "rabbit out of his head") and other on-air flubs. As the season continued, he got better and rose to the occasion when ESPN had great games like the Rams' 54-51 win over the Chiefs on Nov. 19.
But the damage had been done. Ask Phil Simms, Mike Carey or Emmitt Smith — once the social media mob decides you stink on TV, they hound you until you either quit or flip the script, like Simms did by switching to "The NFL Today" studio.
Sure, you can stick it out for years and come out strong on the other side. Kirk Herbstreit and other sports TV stars were not as good in Year 1 as they are today. But they didn't have to contend with the blood-thirsty world of social media. Or the constant stream of blog postings/stories chronicling their every flub.
During a press conference last fall, I asked Witten directly about his on-air mistakes. Even his wife was ribbing him, noted Witten, who tried to defuse critics by making fun of himself on Twitter.
But who really needs that aggravation? Does Witten really want to wade through the bile directed at him on social media because he's forced to call dog games on "Monday Night Football?"
Maybe the MNF job is not all its cracked up to be. (That's right, I said it.) After all, people like Witten, Jon Gruden and Sean McDonough keep leaving skid-marks from the booth. Witten was treated like a god as a player in Dallas. He has been admired since college. Who needs to be a national laughingstock?
Despite ESPN paying Witten a reported $4.5 million per year, the network did not do its new star analyst any favors by sticking him in a three-person booth with Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland. Maybe if Witten had more time to talk, he could have tossed off some of the play-calling predictions that made Romo seem like a savant.
If so, that's on ESPN, not him.
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Witten is beloved by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and coach Jason Garrett. He will be welcomed back with loving arms by Dallas, the state of Texas and Cowboys fans nationwide. Even though he has lost a step, he is re-joining a Super Bowl contender that needs help at tight end. And down the road, Witten could easily slide into a lucrative coaching/front office post with the Cowboys.
Witten discovered nothing can replace the excitement of the playing field or the brotherhood of the team. He should have succeeded on TV. Maybe he still can in the future. But it didn't happen on "Monday Night Football," and there's no going back.
Yes, Witten struggled making the transition to TV. So have other all-time NFL greats.
Give Witten credit for calling an audible when the play wasn't working.
