Mel Kiper Jr. is off ESPN’s draft board, NYP TV Sports has learned.
After a two-decade run as ESPN’s NFL draft guru, Kiper and ESPN are separating.
“ESPN will not be renewing Mel Kiper’s contract,” the network’s executive vice president, Mark Shapiro, confirmed.
“He would not agree to extend the standard non-monetary contract provisions of his current deal.”
ESPN would elaborate.
Besides the draft, the 44-year-old Kiper also did SportsCenter segments and a variety of ESPN college football radio shows throughout the year.
The NFL Network, a logical landing spot for Kiper, already has a draft expert in Mike Mayock, who played with the Giants from 1982-84.
* Expect to see more of ex-Met GM Steve Phillips on ESPN next year.
“He worked the phones more than I think anyone else on our staff,” said ESPN senior coordinating producer for baseball, Tim Scanlan.
Next year, Phillips is to be in studio and in three-man game booths. Larry Bowa, Barry Larkin and Todd Zeile also are on ESPN’s radar for next season. Bowa, the fired Phillies manager, did one postseason Baseball Tonight.
While Larkin may play again, Zeile – who lives in California – probably would only want to do a limited amount of games and not commute to Bristol for Baseball Tonight.
“He auditioned with us last year and did very well,” Scanlan said.
* Outspoken ex-Golden State coach Eric Musselman is finishing up negotiations that will make him the lead regular-season NBA game analyst on ESPN Radio.
* If you win, everything is better – even your personality.
During Week 1, Fox’ Terry Bradshaw called Tom Coughlin a “jerk.” This past Sunday, before the Giants extended their winning streak to four, Bradshaw said, “I never should have called Coughlin a jerk.”
Too little, too late. If Bradshaw wanted to demonstrate real remorse, he should have done it in Week 2, before the victories.
* ESPN’s College GameDay faces a unique dilemma. When it is live on campus, fans often improve the show’s vibe with their behind-the-set antics, including signs. However, sometimes they can go overboard.
On Saturday at USC, a Trojan student had this beauty: ESPN: Everybody Smoke Pot Now.
“We hadn’t seen one like that before,” said GameDay’s senior coordinating producer, Mark Gross.
Security tried to bring the sign down, but because of the massive crowd, guards were unable to corral it quickly, Gross said.
* RCN has added the NFL Network to its systems. Cablevision and Time Warner still don’t have it. … Sam Rosen and John Davidson are an enthusiastic duo when it comes to Ranger hockey, but it will be interesting to see if they can genuinely turn up the adrenaline when they open the AHL Hartford WolfPack season on MSG tomorrow night.
