ESPN announces longtime employee Ed Werder set to return to the network
By Keith Farner
Published:
A familiar face is returning to the reporting ranks of ESPN.
Dallas-based reporter Ed Werder, who had previously covered the NFL for ESPN from 1998 to 2017, is back with the network, it announced on Monday. Werder’s first assignment will be Dallas Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, California, a team he first reported on in 1989. Werder is believed to be the first employee re-hired since the long list of layoffs began in 2016.
“I am very much looking forward to being back on the team where I feel I most belong,” said Werder, in a press release, who is scheduled to report from training camp throughout the week. “I’m grateful for this opportunity and thankful to all the people who have made it a reality. It will be tremendous to again be covering great stories and events with an ESPN press credential.”
Werder discussed the move with Peter King of NBC Sports, and King reported that the difference most likely is Werder and his peers were let go in the John Skipper regime, and Werder was able to build a bridge to return with the new boss at ESPN, Jimmy Pittaro.
“When you were somewhere for 20 years, and you have allies in the building, and you never lost your love of the place, and you have dialog with a lot of people there over time, I hoped there would be an opportunity to return,” Werder told me over the weekend.
Werder said the move also means that ESPN will emphasize good journalism.
“I really feel relieved that we’ve reached a deal, and it’s final, and now it’s just the excitement of doing the job that I know I can do—and justifying the expectations that I have created for myself. I intend to,” he said.
Werder has covered the NFL for nearly 40 years and in 2017 was honored with the prestigious Dick McCann Award presented by the Professional Football Writers of America.
Werder previously worked mostly in newspapers during the 1980s and 1990s with stops at the Daily Camera (Boulder, Col.), The National, the Orlando Sentinel, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News, where Werder was recognized for a series of reports chronicling the deteriorating relationship between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and then-head coach Jimmy Johnson.
“We’re excited to bring Ed back in this new role, where he can continue his outstanding work on the NFL and spread his wings in other sports as well,” said ESPN Executive Vice President, Event and Studio Production & Executive Editor Norby Williamson. “To have a journalist with Ed’s experience and storytelling ability join our incredible group of bureau reporters makes us immediately stronger.”
I’m so incredibly appreciative of this opportunity to rejoin this fantastic group of people and to provide news, info and analysis. I love representing @espn. Now, with that, I have liveshots to do. https://t.co/C87QFRn35z
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) August 12, 2019
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
