Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo insists he's not leaving SiriusXM

Chris "Mad Dog" Russo has insisted he's not leaving SiriusXM for ESPN, ESPN New York, or any other outlet. 

"I’m not going to leave Sirius, let’s put it that way," Russo told Newsday’s Neil Best for a piece published Monday. "I love Sirius so much. They’ve been good to me. I’m not ruling out the idea somebody takes an hour of Sirius and puts it on terrestrial radio. That would be different . . . But Sirius in the afternoon, I'm going to do that as long as they'll have me, to make a long story short." 

Russo became a household name among New York sports fans and others around the country due to his work on the old "Mike and the Mad Dog" WFAN program that also featured fellow sports radio legend Mike Francesa from 1989 to 2008. Earlier this month, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that New York Yankees television voice Michael Kay could retire from his ESPN New York show at the end of September when Kay's contract with the radio station runs out. Marchand named Russo as a potential replacement for Kay even though the "Mad Dog" is signed with SiriusXM until 2024. 

Russo already has a working relationship with ESPN and makes weekly appearances on the "First Take" sports debate show alongside star Stephen A. Smith. As much as Russo seems to enjoy arguing with Smith and hosting the MLB Network program "High Heat," he made it known that he wants to remain with SiriusXM. 

"I would never sit there and say, 'You know what, I've had enough Sirius, I’ll go back to terrestrial,'" Russo told Best. "I would not do that." 

Speculation that "Mike and the Mad Dog" could reunite on even a part-time basis with ESPN intensified when Francesa confirmed last week he would appear on "First Take" this coming Wednesday with Russo and Smith, as noted by the Barrett Sports Media website. Per Sports Media Watch, Francesa hosts "The Mike Francesa Podcast" on the BetRivers Network which releases multiple episodes of that show each week.