John Clayton joins the Seahawks radio broadcast team as sideline reporter

There’s a new addition to the Seattle Seahawks radio lineup. Former ESPN NFL insider and longtime Seattle radio fixture John Clayton will be a sideline reporter for Seahawks games effective this season, the team announced on Tuesday. Jen Mueller keeps her sideline duties, so there will be two reporters in addition to the usual play-by-play/analyst combo of Steve Raible and Warren Moon. All Seahawks games will be broadcast on 710 ESPN Seattle/KIRO Radio FM 97.3.

The Seahawks also confirmed that Curt Menefee and Brock Huard will serve as the Q13 FOX announcers for three of its four preseason games, with the August 25th home matchup vs. Kansas City airing nationally on CBS.

Clayton is a member of the “writer’s wing” of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was a staple of ESPN’s NFL coverage, but was one of the big names let go as part of the network’s plan to lay off about 100 employees. This didn’t affect Clayton’s status with 710 ESPN Seattle, which only licenses the ESPN name but otherwise is owned by Bonneville International. So not only is Clayton pretty much exclusive to the Seattle-area now, he’s going to contribute to Seahawks gameday broadcasts on radio, starting with this Sunday’s preseason opener at the Los Angeles Chargers.

It’s my obligation to end this post with Clayton’s legendary “This is Sportscenter” commercial.