There are hires that require an introduction.
Jarrett Payton does not require an introduction in Chicago.
Following the departure of longtime morning host Mike Mulligan, Audacy’s 104.3 The Score WSCR-FM and 670 WSCR is turning to one of the most recognizable sports names in the city, adding Jarrett Payton alongside David Haugh in morning drive.
And let’s just acknowledge the elephant — or perhaps the Bear — standing in the room.
PAYTON.
In Chicago.
Talking Bears.
On The Score.
Every morning.
Yeah.
People are going to have opinions about this one.
And that’s precisely why this could be really good radio.
First This Is an Enormous Change for The Score
Mike Mulligan wasn’t some temporary morning host passing through Chicago.
He spent more than two decades at The Score and approximately 18 years in mornings.
That’s institutional history.
So replacing Mulligan isn’t like changing the person doing traffic.
You’re altering one of the voices attached to the morning routine of a major-market Sports radio audience.
And now David Haugh suddenly has a new partner.
The Score could have searched nationally.
It could have shuffled existing personalities.
It could have gone with another traditional newspaper-to-Sports-radio personality.
Instead…
Jarrett Payton.
That’s a statement.
And Let’s Be Clear About Something
Jarrett isn’t getting this opportunity simply because his last name happens to be Payton.
Would the name matter in Chicago?
OF COURSE IT MATTERS.
Pretending otherwise would be ridiculous.
His father is Walter Payton.
Sweetness.
One of the greatest players in NFL history and one of the most beloved figures ever to wear a Chicago uniform.
Walter Payton isn’t merely part of Bears history.
He’s part of Chicago history.
So yes, putting Jarrett Payton behind a microphone discussing Chicago sports every morning immediately creates an emotional connection unlike almost any other hire The Score could have made.
But reducing Jarrett to his father’s name would also be ridiculously unfair.
The man has built his own career.
Jarrett Payton Actually Played the Game
That’s important.
Jarrett has his own football résumé, including professional experience in the NFL, NFL Europe and Canadian Football League.
So when the conversation turns toward what happens inside a locker room…
He’s been inside one.
When somebody discusses preparation…
He’s done it.
When a player is struggling…
He understands that world.
When everybody in Chicago decides a Bears player should immediately be traded, benched, launched into Lake Michigan and banned from Illinois because he dropped one pass…
Jarrett can provide a perspective that isn’t coming from somebody who last put on shoulder pads during eighth-grade gym class.
That changes the conversation.
But The Television Experience Might Be Even More Important
Payton also spent 11 years at WGN-TV, most recently working as a sports anchor on the station’s afternoon and evening newscasts and hosting GN Sports.
That means he’s already spent years doing something essential for morning radio:
Communicating without hiding behind a script.
Television isn’t radio, obviously.
And doing several hours of morning-drive Sports radio every weekday is an entirely different animal.
But Payton knows Chicago sports.
He knows broadcasting.
He knows interviews.
He knows how to react.
He knows how to communicate with an audience.
And most importantly, Chicago already knows him.
That’s an enormous head start.
His WGN Departure Makes This Even More Interesting
Payton left WGN-TV at the end of July after more than a decade, saying he wanted additional time with his family.
And now comes this.
Morning radio.
Which has caused approximately every radio person reading this to immediately think:
Well that’s certainly one way to get more sleep.
Welcome to morning radio, Jarrett!
Your alarm clock would like to introduce itself.
It hates you already.
But jokes aside, this represents a substantial career pivot.
Television sports anchor to daily major-market Sports radio morning personality.
That’s not simply changing buildings.
That’s changing disciplines.
And we’re fascinated to hear what happens.
Because Radio Will Give Payton Something Television Couldn’t
Time.
That’s the beauty of it.
Television sports segments move.
Highlights.
Sound bite.
Analysis.
Next story.
Commercial.
Goodnight.
Sports radio gives you room.
Jarrett can tell stories.
He can disagree.
He can explain why.
He can interview somebody for twenty minutes instead of four.
He can react to callers.
He can develop running jokes.
He can make predictions he’ll desperately wish somebody hadn’t saved six months later.
Welcome to radio. We keep receipts.
And over time, listeners will get to know Jarrett Payton differently than they knew Jarrett Payton on television.
That’s the real opportunity.
And David Haugh Becomes Extremely Important Here
Don’t overlook Haugh.
This pairing works only if it becomes a pairing.
Not David Haugh interviewing Jarrett Payton for four hours.
Not Jarrett Payton simply reacting to Haugh.
A morning show needs chemistry.
Haugh brings tremendous Chicago sports-media experience and already knows the rhythms and expectations of The Score’s morning audience. Recent station programming shows Haugh continuing to anchor morning coverage through the transition period.
Now the assignment changes.
Build something new.
That’s exciting and terrifying simultaneously.
And Please Do Not Make Jarrett Walter Payton’s Son Every Morning
This is important.
The connection is enormous.
Use it when appropriate.
There will be Bears stories where Jarrett’s childhood and his father’s legacy provide extraordinary perspective.
There will be anniversaries.
There will be former players.
There will be stories Jarrett can tell that literally nobody else in Chicago Sports radio can tell.
That’s gold.
But don’t turn it into the entire show.
Jarrett Payton has spent years building a professional identity of his own.
Let listeners discover him.
His opinions.
His humor.
His frustrations.
His sports obsessions.
His personality.
His disagreements with Haugh.
His ridiculous predictions.
That’s how this becomes a sustainable morning show rather than a novelty.
Now About the Bears
Ohhhhh boy.
This could get fun.
Because Chicago Bears fans are completely calm, rational people who never overreact to anything.
We’ll wait while everybody stops laughing.
Jarrett Payton is about to spend mornings talking Bears in one of America’s most Bears-obsessed cities.
One bad Sunday?
Monday morning is going to be appointment listening.
One questionable coaching decision?
Phones.
One controversial personnel move?
Phones.
One disastrous fourth quarter?
ALL THE PHONES.
And because Jarrett’s relationship with Bears history is so personal, listeners are going to want his perspective.
That is valuable programming currency.
Here’s the Alternative Perspective
There is risk here.
Of course there is.
Being excellent on television doesn’t automatically make somebody excellent at morning Sports radio.
Being a former athlete doesn’t automatically make somebody compelling for several hours every weekday.
Having a famous name definitely doesn’t guarantee chemistry.
Radio history is littered with people who looked absolutely unbeatable on paper and lasted approximately seventeen minutes.
Morning radio is weird.
It’s intimate.
It’s repetitive.
Listeners learn everything about you.
They know when you’re tired.
They know when you’re irritated.
They know when you’re faking enthusiasm.
You cannot hide for four hours every morning.
That’s why this will be fascinating.
Jarrett Payton now gets the opportunity to prove that his broadcasting abilities translate into long-form personality radio.
We think that’s worth hearing.
And This Is a Bold Way to Replace a 23 Year Veteran
That’s perhaps the biggest takeaway.
The Score isn’t attempting to manufacture another Mike Mulligan.
Good.
You can’t.
Mulligan’s tenure was Mulligan’s tenure.
Instead, the station is changing the chemistry and moving forward with somebody who brings a completely different background.
That’s how transitions should work.
Respect what came before.
Then build something different.
Chicago Sports Radio Has Always Been About Personality
Chicago doesn’t need polite Sports radio.
Chicago Sports radio works when it sounds like Chicago.
Opinionated.
Funny.
Argumentative.
Smart.
Occasionally completely unreasonable.
Passionate.
And capable of spending 47 minutes discussing something that absolutely could have been resolved in six.
That’s part of the charm.
The Score has spent decades building that kind of relationship with its audience.
Jarrett Payton now enters one of the most demanding Sports radio environments in America.
That’s a big chair.
An On The Dial Perspective
Jarrett Payton joining David Haugh represents a genuinely bold reset for mornings at The Score. Replacing someone with Mike Mulligan’s longevity was never going to be accomplished by finding another version of Mike Mulligan, and trying would have been a mistake. Payton gives WSCR something entirely different: professional football experience, more than a decade of Chicago television credibility, an intensely personal connection to Bears history and immediate familiarity with the audience. The question isn’t whether Chicago knows Jarrett Payton. It does. The question is what happens when Chicago gets to know him for hours every morning. That’s where this gets interesting.
And yes…
There will always be something incredibly special about hearing the name Payton attached to Chicago football conversation.
That’s unavoidable.
Walter Payton gave this city memories that generations of Bears fans still carry.
But this microphone belongs to Jarrett.
His career.
His opinions.
His opportunity.
His show alongside David Haugh.
And now he gets to write another chapter of the Payton story in Chicago sports — not carrying a football…
but carrying a microphone.
Congratulations, Jarrett.
Welcome to morning radio.
Set approximately seventeen alarms.
Make strong coffee.
And when the Bears lose a completely winnable game on Sunday…
we’ll see everybody at The Score Monday morning.
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