Sean Salisbury
Encyclopedia
Richard Sean Salisbury is an American football analyst, former NFL
and CFL
quarterback
, and actor
.
in Escondido, California
. During Sean's senior year at Orange Glen High School
, he was a highly recruited quarterback, choosing USC
over UCLA
, BYU
, Stanford
, Notre Dame
, Cal
, Arizona
, and Arizona State
.
Salisbury averaged 26.5 points per game his senior year and was a high school All-American basketball player. UCLA and USC both offered Salisbury basketball scholarships.
Sean has three children, Dylan, Dodge, and Shea.
Sean's younger brother is Brett Salisbury
, Indianapolis Colts
, Minnesota Vikings
, San Diego Chargers
and Houston Oilers as well as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
of the Canadian Football League
. In 1988, Salisbury led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a Grey Cup
victory over Matt Dunigan
and the BC Lions
.
show BattleBots
, Salisbury went on to become an NFL analyst on ESPN
, appearing on SportsCenter
and NFL Live
. He was well known for his dislike of fellow analyst John Clayton
. Clayton once famously got back at Salisbury, when, during an argument, Salisbury attempted to prove his point by telling Clayton, "You never played in the NFL." Clayton, noting that Salisbury spent most of his career as a backup quarterback on the sidelines (he received about a year's worth of NFL snaps in an eight-year career), fired back, "Neither did you!"
In 2004, Salisbury was offered a job with the Arizona Cardinals
by his former coach and fellow co-worker at ESPN, Dennis Green
, to become their new quarterbacks coach. Salisbury pondered for weeks, but eventually declined and stayed on with ESPN.
Salisbury was hired as a consultant for the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard
. On the set, Sean taught Adam Sandler
proper quarterback mechanics, cadences, and footwork. Sandler later offered Salisbury a role in the 2006 film, The Benchwarmers
.
On May 9, 2006, Salisbury began broadcasting on ESPN Radio 1000
, Chicago with Steve Rosenbloom. He also did guest spots on the ESPN Classic
comedy program Cheap Seats
, where he provided his signature breakdowns of the action in a more comedic manner. He has covered for Mike Golic
on Mike and Mike in the Morning
.
In 2007, Salisbury had his No. 12 football jersey retired at his alma mater, Orange Glen High School, an honor no other person in school history has ever received. "I can't believe I'm having my number retired like John Elway
, Marcus Allen
, Larry Bird
or Magic Johnson
," Salisbury said. "In my own little world, I will always cherish being the first at my high school to be honored like this."
On February 26, 2008, Salisbury's contract was not renewed by ESPN. Salisbury suggested, according to Profootballtalk.com
, that he was unhappy with his salary and status compared to those analysts who were more prominent players in their NFL careers. Salisbury explained, saying that “I’d grown tired of being punished for not being an NFL superstar,” He also complained that “analysts who don’t work as hard as me, don’t prepare as hard as me, and don’t have my resume were making more than me just because of their ability to throw or catch a football.”
After ESPN, Salisbury worked briefly for OPENSports.com and KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan, the CBS Radio
affiliate in Dallas. The website Deadspin
, amongst others, had reported numerous times that Salisbury had been fired in part for an incident where he photographed his genitals in a Connecticut bar. On September 23, 2009, Deadspin published emails in which Salisbury promised to sue the site for defamation and to "get his reputation back." Salisbury later admitted that the incident was true.
On September 25, 2009, Salisbury provided the color commentary for the Lingerie Football League
presentation of Friday Night Football. Broadcast on WBFS-TV
and KDOC-TV
; and streamed online at lflus.com. The Dallas Desire
defeated the Denver Dream
20-6. On January 29, 2011, it was confirmed that Salisbury is now a play-by-play announcer for the LFL (lingerie football league).
On October 20, 2010, it was announced Salisbury would host a pilot for a sports comedy talk show called Inside Sports: News You Can Almost Trust. The show aired on Versus in January. Producer Mark McClure called the show "ESPN meets Comedy Central's Daily Show with some SNL skits, too. Sean will be our Jon Stewart
." After the pilot aired, the show was retooled as Inside Sports Unleashed, which began taping on May 12, 2011.
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
and CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Early life
Salisbury attended Orange Glen High SchoolOrange Glen High School
Orange Glen High School is one of the five public high schools in the Escondido Union School District in Escondido, California. It was established in 1962. The school earned the prestigious California Distinguished School Award in 2007...
in Escondido, California
Escondido, California
Escondido is a city occupying a shallow valley ringed by rocky hills, just north of the city of San Diego, California. Founded in 1888, it is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. The city had a population of 143,911 at the 2010 census. Its municipal government set itself an operating...
. During Sean's senior year at Orange Glen High School
Orange Glen High School
Orange Glen High School is one of the five public high schools in the Escondido Union School District in Escondido, California. It was established in 1962. The school earned the prestigious California Distinguished School Award in 2007...
, he was a highly recruited quarterback, choosing USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
over UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, BYU
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
, Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, Cal
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, and Arizona State
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
.
Salisbury averaged 26.5 points per game his senior year and was a high school All-American basketball player. UCLA and USC both offered Salisbury basketball scholarships.
Sean has three children, Dylan, Dodge, and Shea.
Sean's younger brother is Brett Salisbury
Brett Salisbury
Brett Jon Salisbury is a former college football quarterback at University of Oregon, BYU, and Wayne State College.-Early life:...
Professional career
During his ten-year career, Salisbury was a member of the Seattle SeahawksSeattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
, Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
, Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
, San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Houston Oilers as well as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. In 1988, Salisbury led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
victory over Matt Dunigan
Matt Dunigan
Matt Dunigan is a former quarterback, coach, and executive in the Canadian Football League who is currently a CFL sportscaster for Canadian sports television channel TSN...
and the BC Lions
BC Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League . Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954...
.
Broadcaster
After getting his start on the Comedy CentralComedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
show BattleBots
BattleBots
BattleBots is an American company that hosts robot competitions. BattleBots is also the name of the television show created from the competition footage. BattleBots Inc...
, Salisbury went on to become an NFL analyst on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, appearing on SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
and NFL Live
NFL Live
NFL Live is a National Football League studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m and 12:30 a.m ET on the ESPN cable network. Formerly known as NFL 2Night, the program is the only NFL-related studio program to air during the week...
. He was well known for his dislike of fellow analyst John Clayton
John Clayton (sportscaster)
John Travis Clayton is a National Football League writer and reporter for ESPN. He is also a senior writer for ESPN.com.-Early career:...
. Clayton once famously got back at Salisbury, when, during an argument, Salisbury attempted to prove his point by telling Clayton, "You never played in the NFL." Clayton, noting that Salisbury spent most of his career as a backup quarterback on the sidelines (he received about a year's worth of NFL snaps in an eight-year career), fired back, "Neither did you!"
In 2004, Salisbury was offered a job with the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
by his former coach and fellow co-worker at ESPN, Dennis Green
Dennis Green
Dennis "Denny" Green is an American football head coach for the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League...
, to become their new quarterbacks coach. Salisbury pondered for weeks, but eventually declined and stayed on with ESPN.
Salisbury was hired as a consultant for the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard
The Longest Yard (2005 film)
The Longest Yard is a 2005 American sports comedy film remake of the 1974 film of the same name. Adam Sandler plays the protagonist, Paul Crewe, a disgraced former professional football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, who is coerced to form a team from the prison inmates to play...
. On the set, Sean taught Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
proper quarterback mechanics, cadences, and footwork. Sandler later offered Salisbury a role in the 2006 film, The Benchwarmers
The Benchwarmers
The Benchwarmers is a 2006 American sports-comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. It stars Rob Schneider, Jon Heder, and David Spade. It is produced by Revolution Studios and Happy Madison Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures.-Plot:...
.
On May 9, 2006, Salisbury began broadcasting on ESPN Radio 1000
WMVP
WMVP is the callsign of a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is owned by ABC. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove. The station broadcasts live sports talk, both locally and nationally. Daily programming consists of talk shows that are both national and local...
, Chicago with Steve Rosenbloom. He also did guest spots on the ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic is a sports channel that features reruns of famous sporting events, sports documentaries, and sports themed movies. Such programs includes biographies of famous sports figures or a rerun of a famous World Series or Super Bowl, often with added commentary on the event...
comedy program Cheap Seats
Cheap Seats
Cheap Seats without Ron Parker, commonly shortened to Cheap Seats, is a television program broadcast on ESPN Classic hosted by brothers Randy and Jason Sklar...
, where he provided his signature breakdowns of the action in a more comedic manner. He has covered for Mike Golic
Mike Golic
Michael Louis "Mike" Golic is a co-host of ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning and a former defensive lineman at Notre Dame and in the NFL. The NFL website lists him as and ....
on Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning is an American sports-talk radio show hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio and simulcast on television, normally on ESPN2. If ESPN is broadcasting a live sporting event during the show's timeslot, Sportscenter will air on ESPN2, and the show's...
.
In 2007, Salisbury had his No. 12 football jersey retired at his alma mater, Orange Glen High School, an honor no other person in school history has ever received. "I can't believe I'm having my number retired like John Elway
John Elway
John Albert Elway, Jr. is a former American football quarterback and currently is the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played college football at Stanford and his entire professional career with the Denver Broncos...
, Marcus Allen
Marcus Allen
Marcus LeMarr Allen is a former American football player and, until recently, was affiliated with CBS as a game analyst. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and caught 587 passes for 5,412 yards during his career for both the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1982 to 1997...
, Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
or Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
," Salisbury said. "In my own little world, I will always cherish being the first at my high school to be honored like this."
On February 26, 2008, Salisbury's contract was not renewed by ESPN. Salisbury suggested, according to Profootballtalk.com
Profootballtalk.com
Profootballtalk.com is a news and rumor website that focuses on the National Football League. Though much of the information on PFT is aggregated from mainstream media sources, site editor Mike Florio often writes stories based on tips he attributes to a network of sources.The main focus of the...
, that he was unhappy with his salary and status compared to those analysts who were more prominent players in their NFL careers. Salisbury explained, saying that “I’d grown tired of being punished for not being an NFL superstar,” He also complained that “analysts who don’t work as hard as me, don’t prepare as hard as me, and don’t have my resume were making more than me just because of their ability to throw or catch a football.”
After ESPN, Salisbury worked briefly for OPENSports.com and KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan, the CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
affiliate in Dallas. The website Deadspin
Deadspin
Deadspin is a sports website owned by Gawker Media and was launched in September 2005. As of February 2010, the site had attracted over 462 million unique visitors and about 573 million page views....
, amongst others, had reported numerous times that Salisbury had been fired in part for an incident where he photographed his genitals in a Connecticut bar. On September 23, 2009, Deadspin published emails in which Salisbury promised to sue the site for defamation and to "get his reputation back." Salisbury later admitted that the incident was true.
On September 25, 2009, Salisbury provided the color commentary for the Lingerie Football League
Lingerie Football League
The Lingerie Football League is a women's 7-on-7 tackle American football league, created in 2009, with games played in the fall and winter at NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS arenas and stadiums. The league was founded by Mitch Mortaza...
presentation of Friday Night Football. Broadcast on WBFS-TV
WBFS-TV
WBFS-TV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for South Florida that is licensed to Miami. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter in Miramar. Owned by the CBS Corporation, the station is sister to CBS affiliate WFOR-TV and the two share...
and KDOC-TV
KDOC-TV
KDOC-TV is an independent television station based in Orange County, California . The station's transmitter is located on Mount Wilson, California...
; and streamed online at lflus.com. The Dallas Desire
Dallas Desire
The Dallas Desire are a professional women's American football team located in Dallas, Texas. They are one of five teams of the Lingerie Football League's Western Division. The Desire was one of two teams introduced to LFL in 2004, the other being the Los Angeles Temptation...
defeated the Denver Dream
Denver Dream (football)
The Denver Dream started as an expansion member of the Lingerie Football League in 2009. They play two dates at their home field, Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. The team was one of only two to have played its home games in an outdoor stadium, and one of the few short-field...
20-6. On January 29, 2011, it was confirmed that Salisbury is now a play-by-play announcer for the LFL (lingerie football league).
On October 20, 2010, it was announced Salisbury would host a pilot for a sports comedy talk show called Inside Sports: News You Can Almost Trust. The show aired on Versus in January. Producer Mark McClure called the show "ESPN meets Comedy Central's Daily Show with some SNL skits, too. Sean will be our Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
." After the pilot aired, the show was retooled as Inside Sports Unleashed, which began taping on May 12, 2011.
External links
- Pro-Football-Reference.com - Career Stats