Mike Tirico Leaves ESPN After 25 Years

Sportscaster Mike Tirico signed off ESPN for the last time Thursday night.

Mike Tirico Leaves ESPN After 25 Years

Surrounded by his fellow announcers in Paris during coverage of the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament, Tirico shared his gratitude and respect for the network he’d been with for a quarter-century.

“I think 25 years is something like over 9,000 days, and every one of those days ESPN’s been a part of my life,” Tirico, 49, reminisced. He announced his departure in late April.

ESPN’s Bob Ley sat down with Tirico in Paris on Thursday and wished him the best on his new venture.

Tirico joined the network in 1991 as an anchor for SportsCenter. During his time with ESPN, he covered a wide range of sports assignments, including play-by-play college football, NBA games, and the U.S. Open. As of Friday, Tirico will be working for NBC Sports, which will be covering the upcoming Rio Olympics.

His departure comes after those of several other notable ESPN sportscaster names, including Bill Simmons, Skip Bayless, who left the network to join HBO and Fox Sports 1 respectively, and and Keith Olbermann. 

A decade ago, Tirico became just the fourth play-by-play voice in the history of “Monday Night Football” ( Sean McDonough will be the fifth). He was also one of the first voices heard on ESPN Radio.

Mike Greenberg, Adam Schefter, Chris Fowler, Steve Levy, and Taylor Twellman were among those to wish him luck or offer thanks via Twitter.

DALLAS – FEBRUARY 05: ESPN’s Mike Tirico moderates the Bing World Champion Quarterback Panel at the ESPN NEXT Experience on February 5, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Bing)