Warren Sapp Joins Marshall Faulk, Adam Schefter and host Spero Dedes on the morning show
Two-hour NFL GameDay Morning premieres Sunday, Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. ET
NFL Network unveils a new Sunday show, NFL GameDay Morning, to kick off the 2008 season, it was announced today by Steve Bornstein, president and CEO of NFL Network. The two-hour show premieres the opening weekend of the NFL season on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT.
NFL GameDay Morning features a pair of former All-Pros, NFL Network veteran Marshall Faulk and newcomer Warren Sapp, as analysts. They will be joined in the Los Angeles studio by host Spero Dedes. Top correspondent Adam Schefter will report from New York.
"NFL GameDay Morning is the newest addition to the NFL GameDay programming that fans tune into before, in-between, and after the games on Sundays," said Bornstein. "This show will provide fans with the first news of the day that they have come to expect from the only network that is all about football."
NFL GameDay Morning begins the NFL Network schedule on Sundays, which will now be called "NFL GameDay." Following NFL GameDay Morning will be NFL GameDay Red Zone at 1:00 PM ET, NFL GameDay Scoreboard at 4:00 PM ET, NFL GameDay at 7:30 PM ET and NFL GameDay Final at 11:30 PM ET.
NFL GameDay Morning will go straight to the stadiums for the latest news, reports and breaking stories from radio play-by-play announcers and analysts from all NFL teams. NFL Network correspondent Alex Flanagan also will provide news updates throughout the show.
Sapp, the Defensive Player of the Year in 1999, is one of the most outspoken players in NFL history. He won a Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay and was selected to the NFL All-Decade team. Sapp was named to eight Pro Bowls and finished with 96.5 career sacks. He will be making his NFL Sunday show debut as an analyst on NFL GameDay Morning. Sapp will also contribute analysis on other NFL Network shows.
NFL Network's studio team also features one of the most decorated running backs in NFL history and future Hall of Famer, Marshall Faulk. A former NFL MVP and Super Bowl winner, Faulk is an analyst on NFL Network's NFL Total Access and Total Access On Location.
Dedes previously called games and hosted NFL Total Access on the network. He is currently the radio play-by-play voice of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Schefter, an award-winning former sportswriter, is one of the top reporters covering the NFL. He is responsible for breaking numerous news stories throughout the year on the NFL Network and NFL.com.
"For football fans, Sunday mornings are about two things: anticipation and excitement," said Eric Weinberger, NFL Network executive producer. "We will have our reporters at the games as well as access to radio broadcast teams of all 32 clubs for the latest breaking news. NFL GameDay Morning will track minute-to-minute information that will impact Sunday's games, while building anticipation and excitement for kickoff. We also have one of the most outspoken, opinionated and larger-than-life figures in our game in Warren Sapp."
Emmy Award-winning producer Brian Hyland recently joined NFL Network and will be the producer of the morning show. Hyland won multiple Sports Emmy awards for his work at HBO and as the producer of Inside The NFL.
Portions of NFL GameDay Morning, including the segment where the inactive lists are unveiled, will also be available on NFL.com, the exclusive Internet home of the NFL Network.
NFL Network is the place for football fans to get their NFL information before the other pregame shows begin, between the action and after the games conclude. The following is the newly re-named NFL Network Sunday schedule for the regular season:
NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only television network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. For more information, log on to www.nfl.com/nflnetwork. NFL.com is the exclusive Internet home of NFL videos and NFL Network.