Why is Jimmy Johnson not on FOX NFL?
There have been many changes to the NFL 2020 season, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen many changes to the broadcasting booth as well, with some surprising ones. NBC's Al Michaels was replaced by Mike Tirico for Sunday Night Football because of COVID-19 concerns.
With games being postponed multiple times throughout the regular season, it was almost certain that changes would occur with announcers for the games this season.
Considering that the FOX network is one of the most popular networks and arguably has the best announcers, fans certainly looked forward to listening to them this season. The half-time analysts were the most anticipated of the lot. With the likes of Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, Curt Menefee, and Michael Strahan originally a part of this group of analysts, there was a lot of curiosity and expectation among fans
There has been one familiar face missing on the FOX broadcast since the start of the 2020 season. That would be Jimmy Johnson, who has not been in the studio for the NFL season at all and has occasionally made appearances on Sundays. But why is he not with the rest of the group? He has not considered retirement as of yet and certainly was not fired since he still appears once in a while.
So why has Jimmy Johnson not been on FOX NFL broadcasts?
In August of 2020, Jimmy Johnson tweeted out to his followers stating that he will not be joining the rest of the FOX NFL crew on the broadcast because of his COVID-19 concerns.
Johnson has been seen virtually connecting with the crew from time-to-time, but many fans certainly miss his in-person broadcasting during halftime.
As for next season, Johnson is still under contract next year with FOX and should be expected back into the broadcasting booth, assuming all goes well with the ongoing pandemic.