Trey Wingo Reflects on His ESPN Experience
Former ESPN host Trey Wingo, who was part of the network from 1997 to 2020, likened working there today to “getting a power drill to the head.”
During an appearance on the “God Bless Football” podcast, Wingo, known for hosting “NFL Live” and earlier “NFL 2Night,” described some of the challenges he faced. He admitted that at times, the job felt “pretty stupid” since he often had to fill airtime with content due to a scarcity of information.
“I didn’t realize how ridiculous it was back then,” he reflected on his tenure at ESPN. “Unless you’re committed to this five days a week, for eight hours, much of what we produced felt pretty trivial. Honestly, there’s just not enough real content to justify talking about it 24/7. There’s really not.”
Wingo reminisced about his time while playing a game he called “Wing Go or Wing No.” When the subject of making the NFL schedule announcement a big deal came up, he immediately dismissed it, pointing out that it was another instance of merely “filling time” on air.
“I suppose that’s why we came up with things like schedule announcements and goofy games like ‘Wing Go or Wing No.’ We really just don’t have enough to discuss,” he said. “That’s what I see half the time now—I find myself wondering, ‘Why even say that?’ Of course, you have to fill the air.”
“Besides reacting to live events and discussing what might happen next, much of it is just filler. It’s all just that,” he stated. “When I was doing it, it was fun, but if you asked me to return now, I’d probably say, ‘Put a power drill in my head.’ It’s just about killing time. We know how the teams play; it’s just about when they’re playing.”
Wingo also commented on how different ESPN feels compared to his time there. “Back when I was at ESPN, it was all about competing for viewers without taking ourselves too seriously. We took the sport seriously, though.”
“Now, it feels the opposite. We might talk sports, but it’s more about ‘Look at this interesting thing I have to say.’” He concluded, “The dynamic has completely changed. If people enjoy it now, great for them. Good luck with that—there’s no way I could do it now, not even for all the money in the world.”
After his stint on “NFL Live,” Wingo co-hosted “Golic and Wingo” on ESPN Radio, which was ultimately canceled in 2020 as part of a programming overhaul.
