Traina Thoughts: Will A Network Ever Think Outside The Box When Hiring NFL Announcers?

1. ESPN reported Thursday that Jason Witten is retiring and joining its "Monday Night Football" booth as a lead analyst.

This isn't shocking since CBS struck gold with Tony Romo last season. TV is a copycat business, so ESPN figured it would try to recreate the magic and hire another Cowboy to go from the field directly to the booth in a prominent analyst role.

I’m not going to judge the Witten hire without ever hearing him call a game, but the first reactions is that it does seem a little uninspiring. He played for 15 seasons. Has he ever said anything memorable? Has he ever shown any personality?

Networks are never going to think outside the box. It petrifies them. They prefer cookie cutter.…