What is it about football players on morning news shows? Former Detroit Lions receiver Nate Burleson has been named a co-host of the CBS Morning News, to work alongside Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil. Rival ABC has former New York Giant star Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, this after he replaced Regis Philbin on Regis and Kelli.

National CARES Mentoring Movement 4th Annual For The Love Of Our Children Gala
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 11: Atoya Burleson and Nate Burleson attend the National CARES Mentoring Movement 4th Annual For The Love Of Our Children Gala at The Ziegfeld Ballroom on February 11, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Gala for National CARES Mentoring Movement)
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Burleson played eleven seasons in the NFL. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, then played for Seattle, before finishing with the Lions. He played on the Lions' playoff team in 2011, that lost in the Wild Card round.

In 2012, the NFL offered "Broadcast Bootcamp" for players, which helped launch his post-playing career. Upon retiring in 2013, he became an analyst for the NFL Network, and also worked on local Lions pre-season TV broadcasts. After this start, he got his first taste of morning television as a co-host of Good Morning Football on the NFL Network. He then joined CBS for The NFL Today.

This past post-season, he broadcast an NFL playoff game on Nickleodeon, which featured SpongeBob Squarepants. The game, aimed at a younger audience, received a lot of praise (and some notoriety, as a Bears player dropped an "F" bomb that got past CBS' production teams).

(Nickelodeon via YouTube)

Burleson, who has been considered a rising star on TV, blew CBS executives away in a guest host stint earlier this year. Yahoo quoted Executive producer Shawna Thomas as saying "his energy was infectious in the studio" during his guest hosting stints in May and June.

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