Scoop: Sean Salisbury Tells Us He's Joining 'The Fan'

     Nobody pays me to be a real sports-media reviewer like Whitt and Horn. But allow me to fake my way through the job by plowing through the barriers of “sources say’’ and “indications are’’ and just get right to it.

    Former ESPN analyst Sean Salisbury has a three-year contract with 105.3 The Fan to co-host a soon-to-launch midday show with NBC5 anchor Newy Scruggs.

  “I had some great experiences doing TV with ESPN, but now I’m part of the CBS family and part of The Fan and it’s 100,000 watts of interacting with sports fan in this market and we’re going to have a blast,’’ Salisbury tells me. “We’ve got a lot to add to the landscape here.’’

    By that, Sean means the fact that The 105.3 The Fan is one of three all-sports stations in DFW alongside 1310 The Ticket and 103.3 ESPN Radio.

    “I love what those stations have done, love what The Ticket has built, and at ESPN, I think Randy Galloway is about as good as it gets,’’ Salisbury says. “Hopefully I’ll bring one more perspective. All I know is we’re all blessed in this business to have it easy compared to guys like my dad, who made his living in a blue-collar way. This business is the opinion business, and when it comes to sports in Dallas/Fort Worth, I have opinions.’’

    Salisbury forged a long career as a journeyman quarterback in the NFL and was a TV analyst on ESPN for a dozen years before his contract ended in February 2008. (There are reports of some sordid circumstances that led to the change; Salisbury was very open with me about those reports, vehemently denying them, and I’ll write more about that in the coming days.)

    “I’ve had a year to be a dad again,’’ says Sean, who has two sons, 17 and 15, and a daughter, 12, who are with him in Dallas.

    The Fan is also working to become the flagship station of the Dallas Cowboys. That’s a lot of moving and shaking in a short time for a station just now converting over to sports. Salisbury is ready to battle the critics – and the callers – in a way that’s always been part of his reputation.

    “I have no hard feelings with the criticism, as long as they don’t bring my family into it,’’ says Salisbury. “I don’t like it when it’s vicious toward my family and I don’t like it when it’s untrue. But when you’re an analyst, it’s when they’re not talking about you that you’re probably not worth a shit.’’

836pm jan 25 2009