The Score names Jarrett Payton to replace Mully as morning co-host at Chicago sports radio station
There’s a new but familiar name taking the wheel on morning drive at 104.3 The Score, WSCR, Chicago’s leading sports talk radio station.
Veteran sports anchor Jarrett Payton, son of Bears great Walter Payton, will join David Haugh beginning next week to helm the morning show, the station announced Monday.
“Today marks an exciting new chapter for The Score,” Mitch Rosen, vice president of The Score, said in a news release. “We’re excited to welcome Jarrett Payton and believe his experience, perspective and deep connection to Chicago and its great fan bases will be a tremendous addition to our morning show alongside David Haugh.”
The “Haugh and Payton” show launches Aug. 31, ending a weekend of speculation after longtime morning co-host Mike Mulligan was dropped by the station Friday. Numerous sources pointed to Payton, who became a high-profile broadcasting free agent earlier this month.
Payton, who followed in his father’s footsteps as an NFL and CFL running back, has since carved out a career as a broadcaster, mostly recently as a sports anchor on the WGN-Ch. 9 newscasts.
He stepped down from his role at WGN with an emotional on-air goodbye Aug. 2 after more than 10 years at the TV station, telling viewers he planned to spend more time with family and that “it’s not a goodbye, it’s ‘I’ll see you later.’”
Sports fans will certainly be able to hear Payton going forward as he takes to the radio airwaves with his new morning show on The Score.
“I’m truly excited and deeply honored to join the team at The Score,” Payton said in the news release. “I’m looking forward to working alongside everyone there and connecting with the loyal listeners who make this station what it is.”
Payton is being paired with Haugh, the former Tribune sports writer who has co-hosted the morning show on The Score since 2018. Notably absent from the bill is Mulligan, half of the “Mully and Haugh Show” and a mainstay in the mornings, who was unceremoniously cut loose on Friday after two decades at the station.
A former Sun-Times and Tribune sports writer, Mulligan became morning co-host in 2008, shifting from middays with his then on-air partner Brian Hanley. The “Mully and Hanley Show” supplanted inaugural Score host Mike North in morning drive.
In 2018, the Score dropped Hanley, also a former Sun-Times sports writer, replacing him with Haugh. Now after 20 years at The Score, Mulligan is yielding the mic to Payton.
As the son of a Bears legend, Payton grew up in the public eye, inducting his father in the NFL Hall of Fame as a 12-year-old in 1993. The elder Payton died six years later of bile duct cancer and liver failure at age 45.
Jarrett Payton played soccer and football at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights, and went on to play running back at the University of Miami. An undrafted free agent, Payton played for the Tennessee Titans, NFL Europe and spent several years in the CFL.
He moved into broadcasting after retiring from football, becoming a full-time evening sports anchor at WGN-TV in 2017. Payton will soon have the opportunity to connect even more with Chicago sports fans during his 5:30 to 10 a.m. daily on-air shift at The Score.
Launched as a daytime-only AM station more than three decades ago, station owner Audacy began simulcasting The Score on co-owned 104.3 FM in February, looking to expand the format’s reach. The Score’s programming includes Cubs and Bulls play-by-play, along with a full roster of sports talk hosts.
But ratings have been flat this year, likely contributing to the programming lineup shake-up. The WSCR simulcast on 670 AM and 104.3 FM ranked No. 13 among Chicago stations in July with a 2.7 share, according to Nielsen.
In addition to jettisoning Mulligan, the station also cut loose midday co-host Marshall Harris. The show continued Monday with his two former on-air partners, Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote, still behind the mic.
The station moves forward next week with a new morning team, and high hopes to build listenership ahead of a busy fall sports season, with both the Cubs and White Sox vying for the playoffs, and the rising Bears just weeks away from their season opener.
Payton is ready to begin orchestrating the Monday morning quarterbacking on The Score.
“This place has always felt like family to me,” Payton said. “My dad graced these airwaves back in the ’90s, and the thought of being part of that same legacy means everything. Grateful beyond words for this opportunity. Let’s get to work.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com