Anthony Irwin Kornheiser[1] (/ˈkɔːrnhaɪzər/; born July 13, 1948)[2] is an American television sports talk show host and former sportswriter and columnist.

Longtime ESPN executive John Walsh once declared that "in the history of sports media, [Kornheiser] is the most multitalented person ever.

After high school, Kornheiser went to Harpur College (now Binghamton University), where he majored in English literature and began his journalism career at the Colonial News (now called Pipe Dream).

[16] In 1979, George Solomon recruited Kornheiser to join The Washington Post as a general assignment reporter in Style and Sports.

[16][18] In 1980, Kornheiser also authored a profile of Nolan Ryan that served as the cover story for the charter issue of Inside Sports.

[21][22] The most distinct style of his columns was that he often used an alter ego in italics to question his points of views for self-deprecation, like "Excuse me, Tony..."[5][23] At times, he would also use exaggeration for the sake of humor.

[27] In 1991, Kornheiser created a string of now-famous Bandwagon columns to describe the Washington Redskins' Super Bowl run that year.

"[29][30] As the season progressed and the team's performances improved, a growing number of fans read the Bandwagon column in earnest.

[26][29] When the Redskins advanced to Super Bowl XXVI, Kornheiser and his Post colleagues Jeanne McManus and Norman Chad drove in a 38-foot recreational vehicle decorated as the Bandwagon for a 1,200-mile journey to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

[33] Three of his books – Pumping Irony, Bald as I Wanna Be, and I'm Back for More Cash – are compilations of his Style Section columns.

[12] In 2005, Kornheiser started to write short columns called A Few Choice Words with his photo in the Post's Sports Section.

[44] He was back on WTEM locally between November 10, 2004, and April 28, 2006, after which point Kornheiser put the show on hiatus in order to prepare for his duties with Monday Night Football.

[58] The podcast-only show is produced in partnership with sports talent agency IMG and on-demand audio company DGital Media.

[61] Throughout its many iterations, a central quality of the show has been its eagerness to discuss issues other than sports, including news, politics, entertainment, and the idiosyncrasies of modern life.

He was also a panelist on Full Court Press hosted by George Michael on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. during the NFL off-season until that show was canceled in December 2008 due to budget cuts.

[82][83] He was originally passed over in favor of Sunday Night Football commentator Joe Theismann; however, when play-by-play man Al Michaels left ABC to call Sunday Night Football for NBC, Kornheiser was brought in alongside Theismann and new play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico.

Though he has mentioned on his radio program that he is taking steps to overcome his aviophobia, he in fact spent a five-week period on the road traveling to mainly western MNF sites, doing PTI via satellite.

[88] Former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden replaced Kornheiser in the MNF booth.

[90][91] The sitcom's material mostly came from Kornheiser's columns (collected in I'm Back for More Cash) that he contributed to the "Style" section of the Washington Post, which took a humorous view of his family life.

[95] In January 2017, it was announced that Kornheiser was part of a new ownership group for Chad's (formerly Chadwick's),[96] a bar and restaurant located in the Friendship Heights area of Washington, D.C.[97] The group also included former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams, TV host Maury Povich, and D.C. businessman and socialite Alan Bubes.

[108] During a podcast episode released on January 31, 2017, Kornheiser stated: "I land on the liberal side of the fence almost all the time, certainly on social issues.

[113][114] Stephen Rodrick wrote for Slate that Kornheiser was allowed by ESPN to argue aimlessly on television and that his Washington Post column was being used to plug side projects rather than gather news from cited sources.

"[117] Kornheiser responded during an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on August 15, 2006, saying that Farhi was a "two-bit weasel slug" and his own newspaper had back-stabbed him.

[118] Other criticism came from Toronto Argonauts play-by-play commentator Mike Hogan, who said, "The thing that really bothers me is that Kornheiser doesn't seem to know his place.

"[119] Former NFL offensive lineman Mike Schad also criticized Kornheiser, saying that "when people watch a game, they want to learn something.

"[121] During a Monday Night Football telecast on September 15, 2008, Kornheiser made a comment about a clip of the ESPN Deportes crew's call of a Felix Jones touchdown, saying, “I took high-school Spanish, and that either means ‘nobody is going to touch him’ or ‘could you pick up my dry cleaning in the morning.’” Later in the broadcast, Kornheiser apologized on-air for the remark.

In March 2010, Kornheiser commented: "The last time I looked, the roads were made for automobiles...We're going to be dominated as if this was Beijing by hundreds of thousands of bicyclists...

[126] In June 2010, Green Bay Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers criticized Kornheiser's performance on Monday Night Football, saying: "He's terrible...

[135] On July 9, 2017, Kornheiser was inducted into the Washington, D.C. Sports Hall of Fame alongside such notable names as Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky and former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

[136] On October 4, 2017, Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon shared the National Press Club's 2017 Fourth Estate Award, which "recognizes journalists who have made significant contributions to the field.