Rich Eisen - Biography

Richard Eisen (born June 24, 1969) is an American television journalist who works for NFL Network. He is married to Suzy Shuster, college football sideline reporter for ESPN on ABC. He wrote the book Total Access which was published in 2007.

1 Early life and education
2 Broadcasting career
3 External links

Early life and education

Eisen was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised on Staten Island. 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, and in 1994 he earned a master of science degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Broadcasting career

Early years (1990–1996)

Eisen was first a staff writer for the Staten Island Advance from 1990–1993, 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).

ESPN (1996–2003)

Before working for the NFL Network, he worked for ESPN. He was part of a duo with Stuart Scott, and 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 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.

NFL Network (2003–present)

Rich Eisen was the first on-air talent added to the NFL Network roster in June 2003. Eisen is the face of the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week cable and satellite channel dedicated to football that debuted in November 2003. Currently, he serves as the main host of the show, NFL Total Access, the network flagship program which also airs on Saturdays on My Network TV.

Eisen signed a new long-term deal with NFL Network in 2010 and became the new host of NFL GameDay Morning, the first NFL pregame show on television. Eisen also remains host of NFL Total Access and 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 resume in 2010 with the debut of ‘The Rich Eisen Podcast,’ the first-ever podcast for NFL.com. The weekly podcast, available on NFL.com and iTunes, features guests from the world of sports and entertainment news talking football and all the latest headlines.

Eisen's 40-yard dash time (Recorded at the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine) is 6.18 s, a personal best.

CBS Sports

He worked as a play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports coverage of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, in addition to serving as the anchor for the network's weeknight (and late-night) highlights show during the tournament.