Emotional moment legendary ESPN anchor signs off SportsCenter for the FINAL time after 25 years as host
Legendary SportsCenter host John Anderson said his final farewell to ESPN on Friday evening with an emotional moment alongside his longtime colleague Steve Levy.
The network devoted the final portion of its flagship show’s Friday night broadcast to the departing Anderson, featuring guest appearances from hosts who have worked with him over the past 25 years.
Tributes came from Levy herself, Linda Cohn, Jay Harris, David Lloyd and many more.
Anderson takes a position at his alma mater, Missouri, as chairman of the university’s radio and television journalism school.
Before the cameras went black and switched to another program, Anderson thanked everyone at the station.
John Anderson wrapped up his final episode of SportsCenter on ESPN on Friday night
‘I’m really grateful. You could name a billion people who have been great here, actually more than thousands,” Anderson began.
“But if (former ESPN vice president) Al Jaffe doesn’t hire me, like so many of us, nothing will happen. So we’re going with Al Jaffe and then everyone else that I’m grateful for,” Anderson said.
“I really kept telling people, I would just like to do this as a regular show and just quietly slip into the night,” Anderson added.
Levy replied, “How does that work out?”
“I think we accomplished that,” Anderson said sarcastically. “I think this was classically understated the whole time and I could just walk away.”
Anderson stopped joking and turned serious in the final seconds of his broadcast.
‘I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people. “I’ve always said that Linda Cohn helped my career here because she’s the first person I sat next to, and she was a made guy, so I had instant credibility,” Anderson said.
“And when I got to work with you, it made it even more so because I was standing next to you, and everyone knows Steve “TV” Levy,” Anderson continued. ‘And I have benefited enormously from being next to you so often.
“We had so many great times, except the night we were here and it was a 22-inning game in San Diego. But I don’t have to worry about that anymore because (ESPN host) Zubin (Mehenti) will be doing all my shows,” Anderson concluded.
As the credits rolled, Anderson and Levy embraced, with the couple both being emotional at the time.