David Kaplan

On the eve of the Chicago Bears season opener this weekend against the Detroit Lions, NBC Sports Chicago has tapped David Kaplan to host its “Football Aftershow” wrap-up program.

Kaplan is expected to debut Sunday as host of the 90-minute show, which features a panel of NFL experts, including former Bears Lance Briggs, Alex Brown and Olin Kreutz.

The show also carries post-game press conferences with coaches and players, as well as commentary and interviews by Bears Insider JJ Stankevitz.

“Football Aftershow” had been hosted from 2017 to 2019 by Laurence Holmes, whose position at NBC Sports Chicago was eliminated last month in companywide layoffs by Comcast-owned NBCUniversal.

The regional sports network also cut “Sports Talk Live,” the nightly sports roundtable show Kaplan hosted for more than 16 years.

Kaplan, a Skokie native and one of Chicago's most prominent sports media figures, also co-hosts mornings with Jonathan Hood on WMVP 1000-AM, the ESPN Radio station managed by Good Karma Brands.