Nate Burleson makes hosting debut on ‘CBS This Morning’

Burleson joins Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil on set and cites GMA's Michael Strahan as "the blueprint" in a recent interview

After being announced as the new host of CBS This Morning earlier this month, former NFL player Nate Burleson has officially made his hosting debut on the morning talk show.

Since 2017, former NFL player Burleson has been the host of Good Morning Football on the NFL Network and has served as an analyst on The NFL Today on CBS. Now Burleson is officially joining Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil on CBS This Morning, while continuing his role on The NFL Today.

Nate Burleson thegrio.com
(Credit: CBS)

With his new role on CBS This Morning, Burleson is the second former NFL player to join a network morning TV show, with Michael Strahan playing a major role as a co-host on ABC‘s Good Morning America. Per theGrio‘s report, Burleson’s new position comes as “the first major personnel move by CBS News’ new leadership team — Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon — and Shawna Thomas, the executive producer of CBS This Morning.”

Burleson took to social media this week with some fun on-set photos ahead of his debut. He wrote in a caption of his announcement video a few weeks back, “The only time goodbye is painful is when you know you’ll never say hello again” ? ~ I’ll see you soon @cbsthismorning.”

Over the weekend, the host shared a commercial announcing his new position, writing to his followers, “When you can’t find the sunshine, be the sunshine!” #CBSMornings.”

Burleson talked to Deadline, opening up about his brand new gig. Speaking of saying goodbye to the “family” he’s found at Good Morning Football, he shared, “To be part of … a show where the people you work with are not just friends, or co-workers, they are family, it’s tough to make that decision.

Nate Burleson attends ESPN the Party on Jan. 30, 2015 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for ESPN)

But what makes it easy is, I am still involved with the NFL Network and NFL media, and I still will be seen on Good Morning Football occasionally. But more importantly, I’ve been part of the CBS family for a few years now, doing NFL Today on Sundays. So it’s almost like I’m leaving the nest, but I’m going to a relative’s house that I’m very familiar with.”

Burleson said Strahan is “the blueprint” for his career path, explaining, “He’s one of those individuals that I took a liking to once I retired because he rewrote the blueprint. I don’t want to say that he is the blueprint, because there has been plenty of players that have transitioned out of the game into TV. There have been African American men and women before him that have done the same thing, but he is a guy that has shown me the lay of the land, especially being a transplant from the West Coast to now New York.”

Check out the full interview with Deadline, here.

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