ESPN has a big decision to make with star reporter Jeff Darlington.
The Emmy Award–winning journalist was Johnny-on-the-spot during the high-profile arrests of Scottie Scheffler and Tyreek Hill in 2024. But Darlington’s current contract expires late this summer, sources tell Front Office Sports. It remains to be seen whether the 43-year-old NFL/golf reporter will test the free-agency waters.
ESPN added golf to Darlington’s NFL coverage duties in 2024. The network immediately hit the jackpot. He earned praise inside and outside the industry for his daring coverage of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest outside the 2024 PGA Championship last May.
In the wee hours of the morning outside Valhalla Golf Club, Darlington filmed Louisville cops as they handcuffed Scheffler and led him to a police car. His first-person footage has drawn more than 20 million views on X/Twitter.
The Florida native was again in the right place at the right time when Miami police yanked Tyreek Hill out of his car and cuffed him before a Dolphins game last September. Within minutes, Darlington was on the air with ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, providing inside details of the incident and subsequent arrest. He also scored a live interview with Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, which aired on Sunday NFL Countdown. The agent called his client’s arrest “mind-boggling.”
Few people at ESPN are equally comfortable at Lambeau Field and Augusta National Golf Club, where Darlington is covering this week’s Masters Tournament for the second year in a row. Greenberg is No. 1. Scott Van Pelt is No. 2. And Darlington is No. 3. Laura Rutledge also balances those two sports quite well.
I could see networks that boast media rights to both the NFL and golf—like CBS, NBC, and Fox—being interested in the former NFL Network and Miami Herald reporter. But my sources tell me Darlington is well-liked in Bristol—and that the network wants to keep him.
Darlington, who joined ESPN in 2016, is not the only hiring decision facing ESPN president of content Burke Magnus. Popular NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky is also a pending free agent. Like Darlington, Orlovsky is valued as a classic homegrown ESPN talent. The sports media giant just added highly regarded Good Morning Football cohost Peter Schrager, who will work on everything from Stephen A. Smith’s First Take, NFL Live, and SportsCenter to tentpole events such as this year’s NFL Draft in Green Bay.
ESPN declined to comment when asked about Darlington.
