Former NFL official John Parry is leaving ESPN for an interesting opportunity.
Parry is walking away from his role as an NFL rules analyst on “Monday Night Football” to join the Bills as an “officiating liaison,” The Post has learned.
Parry told the website Football Zebras over the weekend that he is leaving for a job with a team.
“Officials look at the game so differently than players, coaches, and fans,” Parry told the outlet.
“So to have somebody up [in the booth]: Hey, this is the mechanic, this is why that person made that call. And no matter what happens to this replay, if they flip it, here’s where the ball will be spotted. Here’s the down [and] distance. The clock’s gonna start in the ready for play, or it’s a 10-second runoff, so you could take a timeout. So you better start thinking about that, will you take one? Will you not?”
It is a very interesting move in the landscape of the NFL.
Mike Pereira started the trend, leaving the NFL league office for Fox Sports in 2010, setting a standard that every other rightsholder emulated.
Fox also has Dean Blandino, while Terry McAulay works for NBC and Amazon, and CBS has Gene Steratore.
Parry, a source said, was well-liked at ESPN and left the network on his own volition.
The network plans to replace him in the booth before the NFL season kicks off in September.
An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment.
“There’s so much on the shoulders of coaches as it pertains specifically to replay because it’s grown so much and it is complicated. It’s hard to keep all of that data straight,” Parry told Football Zebras.
“And I think there’s value to having — I mean, obviously if you’re working for a team, you want to win — but your job is to ensure that they have all the data that they can make the appropriate decision or the decision they want.”
Parry was an official in the NFL from 2000-18, and refereed in two Super Bowls.