The perception in and around ESPN is that management has tried to distance itself from the divisive, political rhetoric that defined the network over the past decade. Executive vice president Burke Magnus has led the effort.
Magnus has elevated personalities who provide a more positive, fan-focused perspective on sports, from Pat McAfee and Peter Schrager to Josh Pate and Jason McCourty.
The network parted ways with several commentators and declined to renew the contracts of others who frequently generated headlines for comments critics considered toxic or political, including Ryan Clark, Mark Jones, Clinton Yates, Sarah Spain and Max Kellerman.
Magnus’s actions sent a message to current and future employees. Self-serving commentary and social media activity that undermine the company’s reputation are no longer tolerated.
Viewers have noticed. Nearly every one of ESPN’s daily studio shows has gained viewership year over year. For that, Magnus deserves credit.
And yet, his latest decision undermines his own edict, suggesting to employees that the very behavior he has spent the past two years eliminating is again welcome.
On Thursday, ESPN announced that it had rehired Stan Verrett to host a daily show on its sister network, NFL Network. Sources tell OutKick that Magnus and executive Mike McQuade chose Verrett for the role.
The move is notable because ESPN did not renew Verrett’s contract last year. Verrett claimed the departure was his decision. Sources have told OutKick otherwise. Either way, ESPN is bringing him back despite knowing how he conducted himself during his previous tenure.
Perhaps no recent ESPN employee behaved less professionally on social media than Verrett. We would know.
For years, Verrett tweeted obsessively about us, predicted our demise, denounced us as racist, and directly messaged me “f— you” after following me.
Some of those posts are below:
Below is a friendly back-and-forth between SportsCenter anchor Nicole Briscoe and me about President Trump. Verrett inserted himself into the mentions by spreading unprompted racial hysteria.
“I can help here, Nicole. [Burack] works for a site [OutKick] that uses some of the same kind of racially-tinged rhetoric to attract a specific audience to try to get them to gamble. Plausible deniability is the escape hatch for all the foolishness.”
Huh?
It wasn’t just us.
Verrett spent much of his final years at ESPN picking social media fights with people who voiced even mildly conservative opinions. In many cases, he dismissed arguments he disliked as — wait for it — racist.
Verrett told former college football player T.J. Moe that white people like him have “every advantage available in this society” because Moe rejected the idea that white moviegoers care about the skin color of performers.
“No, Black people support other Black people because if we didn’t, history tells us they might not get any support at all. We know you’re not going to do it, based on your whining. Quit tying so hard to be a victim. You have every advantage available in this society.”
Verrett’s sports commentary isn’t much different.
ESPN is privately dissatisfied with its WNBA coverage, particularly the negative tone and racial emphasis some of its commentators have attached to the league. Verrett is unlikely to help address those concerns.
He recently got into a spat with an anonymous account with roughly 150 followers, arguing that biases help explain Caitlin Clark’s popularity among white people and Middle America.
“If you worry about people thinking you’re racist for supporting Clark, that’s between you and your mirror. Rational, honest people understand that a part of her appeal is to middle America, particularly white people in middle America. And that’s fine. But people lie and pretend it has nothing to do with it …”
Perhaps Magnus forgot when he re-hired Verrett that white people and Middle Americans watch sports, too.
Verrett also regularly seeks responses from Dave Portnoy, Clay Travis, Jason Whitlock and Megyn Kelly, reminding viewers of his contempt for prominent figures who represent the views of roughly half the country.
Notably, he took issue with one of Travis’ posts advocating against transgender athletes competing in female sports:
So, the question is why. Why would Magnus and McQuade hire Verrett back?
ESPN has younger anchors on its roster. It could have used NFL Network, which draws fewer than 100,000 viewers in most time slots, as a proving ground for up-and-coming talent. Instead, it turned to Verrett, a 60-year-old anchor who is significantly older than the channel’s average viewer.”
It’s difficult to see the upside in hiring someone with such a documented history of alienating a substantial portion of the country. His public persona runs directly counter to ESPN’s stated preference for avoiding unnecessary conflict.
OutKick asked ESPN on Thursday why it hired Verrett. The network did not provide a clear response. However, the timing raises questions about whether recent criticism of Magnus influenced the decision.
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Last month, OutKick first reported that ESPN was laying off Ryan Clark. After Clark’s dismissal, the influential radio show “The Breakfast Club” claimed that Magnus leaked the information to OutKick to embarrass Clark by having him fired in the middle of his show.
To be clear, Magnus was not our source. It’s unclear why ESPN informed Clark of his exit during a commercial break of “NFL Live,” after learning OutKick planned to report it later in the day.
Later that week, Clark repeatedly described Magnus on his podcast as the executive who did not like him and suggested Magnus may have had a problem with “how black” Clark says he was.
“I couldn’t be too black [at ESPN],” Clark said.
Clark offered no evidence that Magnus’ decision was motivated by race. More plausible explanations for why ESPN dismissed him include Clark’s on-air belittling of colleague Peter Schrager, his criticism of Robert Griffin III’s marriage to a white woman, and his retraction of unsupported claims about Louisiana law enforcement officers.
Nonetheless, Clark’s comments created a narrative among certain audiences, including The Breakfast Club, Threads and Bluesky.
Such accusations, while unsupported, undoubtedly place Magnus, a top Disney executive, in an uncomfortable position.
For years, we’ve watched executives respond to similarly unfounded allegations of racism by making decisions intended to demonstrate that the allegations are untrue.
Rehiring Stan Verrett, who had employed much of the same racial rhetoric as Clark, could help Magnus refute that narrative.
Interestingly, Jemele Hill said on YouTube that Clark spent time with her and Verrett after leaving ESPN.
We asked ESPN whether the criticism of Magnus played any role in the decision to bring back Verrett. We did not receive a response.
In any event, Magnus weakened the standard he set by hiring Verrett.
Notice that ESPN had not generated its usual wave of negative headlines for veering away from sports in recent months. Magnus had almost entirely eradicated the type of commentary that divided fans along political and racial lines.
Ryan Clark’s firing confirmed Magnus’s vision. Employees received the message.
Yet, by rehiring Stan Verrett, employees will naturally wonder whether fighting on X and reflexively accusing critics of racism is back in style. How could they not?
The addition is disappointing for sports fans.
NFL Network was created for football fans of all demographics. Now, the channel is showcasing someone with a documented history of expressing hostility toward a significant portion of that audience.
Burke Magnus deserves credit for the improved state of ESPN. That’s on him. He also deserves scrutiny for this decision, one that could undermine the culture he worked so hard to improve.
