Rick Reilly leaves SI for ESPN

After writing the back page column with Sports Illustrated for the last 22 years, Rick Reilly has decided to leave and go to ESPN. Reilly is one of the most popular sports columnists in the United States today. He will be leaving SI when his contract expires at the end of October. This news comes one day after SI announced that they had signed ex ESPN anchor Dan Patrick.
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New York Times reports:

Rick Reilly, who has written for Sports Illustrated for 22 years and whose "Life of Reilly" column is in the final page of the magazine each week, is leaving to join ESPN.

ESPN would not offer details about what Reilly would do. The company spokesman Mike Soltys and Reilly's agent, Janet Pawson, said discussions were continuing. "There's nothing to announce," Soltys said.

Reilly's departure comes one day after Sports Illustrated announced a deal with Dan Patrick, the former ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor and radio host. Patrick will write a column for the magazine and have his new radio program simulcast on SI.com.

Reilly's humorous and sometimes poignant columns have been a high-profile part of the magazine, and he also contributes "Riffs of Reilly" on SI.com, in which he appears in animated form offering funny commentary.

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