You could make the argument that if Brent Musburger was 47 instead of 74, he still might be ESPN’s lead voice for college football.

But Musburger knows how the game works in broadcasting. He once was the young guy moving up the ladder at CBS. Much younger in fact than 47. Along the way, some veteran announcers were moved aside to make way for him.

Now it is his turn to be on the other end with ESPN wanting to promote Chris Fowler.

That’s likely why Musburger took the high road in an interview with Richard Deitsch at SI.com yesterday. He addressed ESPN moving him from its lead voice on college football to lead voice on the new SEC Network.

“I’m going to be 75 in May. You can take someone who is 75 and tell them, ‘Hey, it’s been great. You did a terrific job. Thank you very much but we have to move in another direction.’ I get that. It happens in corporate life all the time. So if this was a good time for them to take a different direction, they should go for it. I’m delighted to be offered a three-year deal when I am 75 years old. I love going to games, I love the excitement and I want to continue. It is a heck of an opportunity for someone who does not want to play golf every day.”

Earlier, though, Musburger did admit to being disappointed about not being involved in the new college football playoff telecasts.

“Obviously, I was disappointed I was not going to be doing one of the semifinals and the final. I’m not going to mislead anyone with that and I have told Skipper and Wildhack the same thing. But I also know that was not going to change anything. It was time to take a different challenge and move on. Did I sit around and cry about it? Absolutely not. There’s no need for me to look back. I have to look forward.”

Spoken like a true pro.