ESPN Or NFL Network?

Recently ESPN's Chris Mortensen and NFL Network's Adam Schefter had conflicting reports on Mike Shanahan becoming the new head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. While Mortensen said that Shanahan would become the new coach, Schefter said "Unless people I have known for years are blatantly lying to me, Mike Shanahan is not going to be the head coach of Kansas City Chiefs." This brings up a question: Where do you go for your NFL news? ESPN or NFL Network? Here I will compare and contrast both networks to see which one is the best to get the latest news on the league.

ESPN: When people think of ESPN's NFL coverage, the first thing that comes to mind is the names that they have. With names like Mike Ditka, Steve Young, Cris Carter and Emmitt Smith you are hearing some of the best to ever play the game talking about the league. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they are good. Smith was one of the greatest running backs of all time but when he says things like "Steve Slaton is the type of running back who makes plays with his legs" you can't help but laugh. ESPN is smart to get former stars to talk about the league since people will watch, but people will go elsewhere to learn about the happenings in the league. The game coverage is very good as both Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski are both very good. Tony Kornheiser on the other hand, doesn't seem to know about what's going on in the game and only focuses on how much "Star Power" and the sup plots of the game like earlier this year when he talked about Vince Young the entire time the Titans were on. The draft coverage is very good though as both Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay are among the best in the business. Many people don't like Kiper as they find him annoying but if it wasn't for him, the draft is nowhere what it is today. Even though they only highlight the top players on shows like NFL Live and Sportscenter, when the draft comes along, both of these guys know their stuff. With everything being said, ESPN used to be most people's go to source for league coverage, but it is starting to become more and more like a tabloid.

NFL Network: Unlike ESPN, many households don't have NFL Network, but it is quickly gaining momentum. NFL Network airs things like the NFL Combine, Thursday Night Football and most recently the Under Armour Senior Bowl. They also have exclusive NFL programming such as America's Game which is a very well done piece on all of the Super Bowl winning teams along with some of the greatest games from all the different decades. For breaking news NFL Network is the best option as on many occasions Schefter, their lead reporter, sometimes breaks stories straight out of the league office. Regarding the Shanahan case, Schefter is very trust worthy considering before he joined the Network he was a beat writer in Denver where he formed relationships with Shanahan along with many other prominent Broncos. Analyists on shows such as "Total Access" are solid as Rod Woodson knows what he is talking about and while some may dislke Deion Sanders, but he The draft coverage is solid as well as both Mike Mayock and Charles Davis know what they are talking about. Mayock is very high on lesser known players and often has very different opinions then other draft analysts. For instance, while most experts had Darren McFadden as the number one running back in the draft, Mayock had Rashard Mendenhall. Even this year, Mayock has Andre Smith as the number three tackle on his board while many others have him as a top 5 pick.

Final Verdict: When it comes to watching highlights I will most likely watch ESPN as I like some of the Sportscenter guys and think they are funny. But when it comes to everything else NFL, I will lean towards the NFL Network as their reports are very accurate and it's NFL football 24/7 what beats that?

So now the decision is yours, where channel do you watch for your NFL news and why: ESPN or NFL Network?