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Monday, June 29, 2009

If you tuned in to WIP last week, you may have heard the familiar voice of ex-Eagle Brian Mitchell.

In this morning's USA Today, Mitchell shed some light on why he lost his gig as a radio host in D.C.

He had been working for ESPN 980, a station owned by Redskins owner Dan Snyder. The station said Mitchell was let go because of the economy, but he said his criticism of the franchise might have played a factor in the move.

"If you never discuss any money, or any changes in my money with me, then you already have your minds made up," Mitchell told USA Today. "This didn't have a damn thing to do with the economy."

Mitchell, who was making $150,000 according to the article, said he was willing to take a pay cut, but the station's executives never asked.

B-Mitch spent three seasons with the Birds, from 2000-2002. The first 10 seasons of his career were spent with the Redskins, and he played a year with the Giants in 2003.

Per the report, Mitchell is pursuing another broadcasting job. I'm currently trying to track down details of his situation with WIP and will hopefully have that information later.

In the meantime, some other links to pass along:

** CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco is continuing with his series of rankings. He's released his offensive tackle rankings, and Jason Peters comes in at No. 6:

He didn't play as well last season for the Bills following a holdout, but he remains one of the NFL's best. A new home and a new contract should rejuvenate him.

Andy Reid would disagree. When the Birds traded for Peters, Reid said he was the best tackle in the NFL.

Prisco also ranked defensive ends. Trent Cole got the No. 7 spot:

He's a speed rusher who plays bigger than his size. He's much more than a situational rusher.

** SI.com's Ross Tucker caught up with players at the league's Broadcast Boot Camp, and asked them who their favorite announcers are. Jets offensive lineman Damien Woody said Ron Jaworski.

"He is a student of the game," Woody told Tucker. "Some guys are very opinionated and there is nothing wrong about that as long as you do the homework. Jaws knows what is going on from a football perspective. If he is critical of a player or certain scheme, he shows you why. You can respect him because you know he does the work."

Posted by Sheil Kapadia @ 8:47 AM  Permalink | 9 comments
9
Comments   
Posted 09:29 AM, 06/29/2009
chasing history
Cole needs to step it up this season.
Posted 10:11 AM, 06/29/2009
va philly fan
B Mitch is right. I sometimes listen to 980 ESPN here in Arlington and one or two others were let go by this station for their criticism of the Sissyskins. Their owner, Daniel Napeleon Bonasnyderparte, is a real class act.
Posted 10:44 AM, 06/29/2009
PinkGargoyle
Dan Snyder is a Scientolo-NutJob.
Comment removed.
Posted 12:19 PM, 06/29/2009
Panthro22
"replace Eskin"? HAW! If only.....that oily, wetdog seems like he's tied into WIP. I'm glad Channel 10 doesn't put up with his nonsense. I think he scared poor little Jade McCarthy off of Sunday Night Sports. She was the best thing to look at! Oh well, if we could switch out B-Mitch with Howeird, it would be very benficial.
Comment removed.
Posted 04:54 PM, 06/29/2009
gaitherfan
Yeah, philly7... why would a station in a football town hire ex-football players who talk mostly about football? Hmmmm... And to Panthro and lonewolf... while Eskin is a d-bag, he sure knows alot more about sports than you or I. People like you who go out of their way to hate him just end up giving him better ratings and soldifying his job more and more. He knows it and that's why he incites you.
Posted 11:48 AM, 06/30/2009
ICDogg
B-Mitch is great on the radio, hiring him for WIP should be a no-brainer. And on WIP, bashing the team is not only permitted, it's practically required.
Posted 09:29 PM, 07/04/2009
jhr3743
If you want someone who reads updates and commercials like the not so bright kids we all remember from grade school than B. Mitch is the guy for you. B. Mitch also acted like immature kid the majority of the time and his approach to most situations was to simply act touch and talk about how he could beat up anyone...trust me this guy has absolutely no business on TV or radio. What others haven't told you is that "The Brian Mitchell" show was canceled before Snyder and Red Zebra broadcasting took over. 980 was a fox station for several years and Mitchell and (long time John Thompson co-host Al Koken) were fired because their approach was joke and everyone got tired of listening to them. There are still plenty of guys left at 980 that are very critical of Snyder, the Redskins organization as well as Vinny Cerato (who they make fun of all the time) who are still employed because they are actual good on radio. They ask good questions, make you laugh and generally provide extremely smooth transitions which is essential in the radio business. Just remember that you warned ahead of time, B. Mitch was a heck of football player but there are reasons why he has not retained jobs on Fox Sports, Espn, NFL Network, CBS Sports, SI, etc.
About Moving the Chains
Sheil Kapadia is a sports producer for philly.com. His earliest memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with his dad, most of which turned out disappointing results. He's here to discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or by clicking here

And you can now follow Moving the Chains on Twitter.