Background and career
Richard Eisen ( EYE-zən; born June 24, 1969) is an American television sportscaster and radio host. Since 2003, he has worked for NFL Network as a host of various pregame, halftime, and postgame shows and doing occasional play-by-play. He also hosts a daily sports radio show and podcast, The Rich Eisen Show. From 1996 to 2003, he worked at ESPN, most prominently as an anchor of SportsCenter. He returned to the company in 2025 following a merger between NFL Network and ESPN.
Eisen was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, and was raised on Staten Island, New York City. Eisen attended the University of Michigan, where he served as co–sports editor of the school's Michigan Daily and was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. He graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1994, he earned a Master of Science degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Eisen was first a staff writer for the Staten Island Advance from 1990 to 1993, and the Chicago Tribune in 1993 and 1994. He was then a sports anchor and reporter at KRCR-TV in Redding, California, from 1994 to 1996, and also worked in television as the Medill News Service's Washington correspondent (1994).
Before working for the NFL Network, he worked for ESPN. He was part of a duo with Stuart Scott, where he became well known for his humor, most notably his impressions of Atlanta Braves broadcaster Skip Caray, and provided interviews during the Home Run Derby. Eisen was also the host of ESPN's reality series, Beg, Borrow & Deal. For ESPN Radio, he served as host of Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio and as a guest host on The Tony Kornheiser Show and The Dan Patrick Show. Outside of the world of sports, Eisen hosted the ABC show Domino Day. Among Eisen's notable achievements while at ESPN was breaking the news of St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire's retirement from baseball in 2001 on SportsCenter. Days later, he sat down with McGwire for an exclusive interview elaborating on the decision.
Rich Eisen was the first on-air talent added to the NFL Network roster in June 2003. He was the main host of NFL Total Access, the network's flagship program, until August 2011. Eisen signed a new long-term deal with NFL Network in 2010 and became the new host of NFL GameDay Morning, the first pregame show on the NFL Network. Eisen also remains host of NFL GameDay Highlights, as well as NFL Network's Thursday Night Football pregame, halftime and postgame shows and special on-location coverage from league events such as Kickoff, Pro Football Hall of Fame, NFL Scouting Combine, NFL draft and Super Bowl.
Eisen expanded his résumé in 2010 with the debut of "The Rich Eisen Podcast," the first-ever podcast for NFL.com. The weekly podcast, available on Apple Podcasts among many other sources, features guests from the world of sports and entertainment news talking football and all the latest headlines. Since its debut, the podcast has been downloaded more than seven million times and celebrated its 200th episode. Eisen hosts his nationally syndicated sports talk radio show with Chris Brockman, Michael Del Tufo, and TJ Jefferson. In November 2012, Eisen's first Thanksgiving Special aired on the NFL Network with a variety of celebrity guests talking mostly sports and current events. In 2005, Terrell Davis challenged Eisen to compete in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. Eisen runs it annually, wearing a suit, and his times are:
