Keyshawn Johnson and Jay Williams aim for fun, upbeat ESPN New York radio morning show

ESPN Radio long has had a disadvantage in mornings in New York because it airs a national show against WFAN’s local fare.

“Think about what you just said,” Keyshawn Johnson said when the notion was presented to him in a phone interview. “You said they ‘had’ a challenge. ‘HAD.’”

Thus did the loquacious former Jets receiver informally kick off a new era in the sports talk radio wars, which on Aug. 17 will find him, Jay Williams and Zubin Mehenti taking over in morning drive time.

ESPN’s show still will be national, but Johnson intends to give New Yorkers a new alternative to consider.

“My goal is to do a show that people are going to listen to,” he said last week, while taking breaks to instruct the movers in his California home as they readied for his return East.

“My goal is not to get caught in a war of words or station versus station or network versus network, because I clearly know what we’re going to do.”

That plan involves talking about New York sports along with national matters, but with a tone in keeping with the kinder style that marked their predecessors, first Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, later Golic and Trey Wingo.

“We’re not going to scream and holler,” Johnson said. “We’re not going to cut people off on the phones. We’re not going to be rude and obnoxious. No, this is not that type of show. I won’t get involved in that. So if they are looking for that, it’s probably not really worth listening to.

“We want to be fun and upbeat in the morning and have a blast. When you’re on that subway or you’re on that train and you’re in your car or a cab or an Uber or you’re walking to work with your earplugs in, we want you smiling and laughing to the point where people go, ‘What the hell is wrong with that guy? He’s off his rocker!’”

While Johnson got to know New York well during his four seasons with the Jets in the late 1990s, Williams has the added edge of having grown up in New Jersey and lived in various places in New York City as an adult.

“With all respect to Boomer [Esiason] and [Mike] Francesa and all the greats – these are legends in the New York area – I’m OK with being very different,” he said.

“I know Jersey and New York through and through. For me, having those connective tissues to all the sports teams and everything that’s happening, that’s my everyday life here.”

The arrival of the new morning team will be part of a broad overhaul of ESPN New York’s schedule that will slice and dice local and national shows from 6 a.m. through 3 p.m., a plan first reported by the New York Post.

Only the first three hours of the new morning show will be heard in New York, followed by two hours of Rick DiPietro, Chris Canty and Dave Rothenberg from 9 to 11 a.m., Bart Scott and Alan Hahn from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., then one hour each of national shows hosted by Greenberg and Max Kellerman. "The Michael Kay Show" will remain in the 3-7 p.m. slot.

Johnson, 48, and Williams, 38, do not know each other well, but both expressed confidence they will mesh.

“I know who Key is, and I think I’ll be able to play off of that,” Williams said. “Sometimes Key will say things that are a little bit absurd and I will disagree with him on national TV [via simulcast].”

They share an elite athletic background, with Johnson having been the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft and Williams going No. 2 overall in the NBA in 2002.

But while Johnson had a long career and won a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers, Williams played only one pro season before a motorcycle injury in 2003 ended his playing career.

Williams said Golic’s approach reinforced in him the value of sharing personal details to connect to audiences.

“I wrote a book about being an open book,” he said. “I wrote a book about how it was to lose everything, then to find myself after people had equated me to what I did.”

He added, “I still have people come up to me and say, ‘Oh, you’re the guy that got in that motorcycle wreck.’ That is challenging. . . . If anything, getting hurt and what I went through has taught me that the only way through is to keep going.”

Johnson and Williams both said they are natural early risers, but Johnson has had more practice, as a host of an ESPN Radio morning show in Los Angeles the past four years.

He took issue with SiriusXM host Chris Russo, who last month expressed skepticism that two former jocks would be up to the morning show grind.

“The Russo dude tried to crack a joke and didn’t even realize, dude, I’ve been waking up at 4 o’clock my entire life,” Johnson said. “He tried to say it’s going to be a failure, because two athletes aren’t used to getting up at 4 o’clock in the morning.

“What are you talking about? Do your homework and your research and come with facts and not [expletive].”

Russo is not the only skeptic about the new show, but Johnson and Williams promise to deliver compelling content that does not rely on hot takes and sound bites.

Williams said one appeal of long-form radio is that it differs from the constraints of studio analysis.

“Often in essence you get rewarded for how loud or how provocative your sound bite can be, and sound bites don’t necessarily provide context,” he said.

Said Johnson, “You’re going to get real facts, not having stuff and just throwing it against the wall to get splashes on social media. No, no, you’re going to get real stuff.”

He added, “We’re not screaming and yelling and disrespecting people and going off. We’re not going to be hanging up on callers because they don’t agree with us . . . This is not Boston. We’re not doing that. We’re not.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.