Former Buccaneers Super Bowl Champion Laid Off From ESPN

ESPN is reportedly laying off the former Buccaneers' great.

ESPN announced on Friday morning that they had 20 layoffs in their on-camera positions. This move impacts a variety of shows and talents, with one of those being Keyshawn Johnson.

Johnson was a wide receiver that played ten years in the NFL after a storied college career. The unanimous All-American went number one overall in the 1996 NFL Draft and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2000. In 2001, he received his third Pro Bowl selection, and his first selection as a Buccaneer. 

Johnson, alongside legendary head coach Jon Gruden, won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2002. He finished his career after the 2006 season. In his ten seasons, Johnson racked up 10,571 receiving yards on 814 receptions while bringing in 64 touchdowns.

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“The news isn’t all bad for Johnson as only a year ago, he signed a five-year deal in the neighborhood of $18 million – and he will be able to collect all of it,” New York Post's Andrew Marchand writes.

For a player with a long NFL career, Johnson found himself a nice second career in media. His first appearance came during the 2007 NFL Draft, and he has since worked with ESPN. Having signed a five-year deal, Johnson will be able to collect the rest of his signed deal while taking time off to find a new home for his sports media talents or deciding what's next in his career.

Johnson spent four seasons with the Buccaneers from 2000-2003, receiving 298 passes for 3,828 yards and 17 touchdowns in that span. He started in each of his 57 games played over that span and averaged 67.2 receiving yards per game in his Buccaneers tenure, the most he had for any team in his career.

Disney CEO Bob Iger, which is the parent company of ESPN, announced 7,000 layoffs in February, and this is just the latest wave of cost-cutting layoffs.

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