Former Lion Damien Woody is the latest on-air personality to exit ESPN amid the network's large summer shakeup. Woody told The Athletic on Wednesday that his contract wasn't renewed, and that he will appear on the air through the end of the month by his choice. Woody has been with the network for 15 seasons, appearing on a variety of shows.
"Being at ESPN for 15 years, it's been an absolute joy," Woody told The Athletic. Woody, 48, played 12 seasons in the NFL as a star offensive guard, after being drafted in the first round (17th overall) by the New England Patriots out of Boston College in 1999. He played five seasons with the Patriots before joining the Lions in 2004. He started every game for the Lions in 2004 and 2005 before missing much of the 2006 season with an injury. He returned to play 13 games in 2007. Woody then signed a five-year contract with the New York Jets in 2008, but retired before the 2011 season. A 2002 Pro Bowl selection and two-time Super Bowl champion, he joined ESPN in 2011. Woody, who overcome a stutter as a child, appeared on several shows, including "SportsCenter," "NFIL Live," "Get Up" and others. The Athletic reported that Woody earned nearly $1 million a year from ESPN, which kept Woody four years ago despite a push from Fox Sports to poach him. Woody told The Athletic that he was informed by ESPN two weeks ago that it was moving on, despite recent negotiations on an extension.
Still processing it all but I want to thank all of my colleagues at ESPN who made it a joy to talk ball for 15 yrs. Being a guy who had a serious speech impediment to working on tv was truly one of my proudest accomplishments. Looking forward to what God has in store for me next! https://t.co/J7ZvuH9DRM — Damien Woody (@damienwoody) August 12, 2026 Woody is the latest notable personality to exit amid a big shakeup at ESPN, which also is parting ways with the likes of Karl Ravech and Ryan Clark. Many of ESPN's cuts come after the $3-billion acquisition of NFL Network earlier this year, with many of the affected positions being viewed as redundancies or overlap. "Still processing it all but I want to thank all of my colleagues at ESPN who made it a joy to talk ball for 15 yrs," Woody wrote on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week. "Being a guy who had a serious speech impediment to working on tv was truly one of my proudest accomplishments. "Looking forward to what God has in store for me next!" tpaul@detroitnews.com @tonypaul1984 This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Former Lions player is latest departure from ESPN amid summer cuts