Is it us, or does it just seem like ESPN’s NFL analysts draw straws to see who will be forced to defend Zach Wilson?
Last week it was Dan Orlovsky, who must have picked the short one, trying valiantly to prove the Jets quarterback played “really good” during Gang Green’s 13-10 win over the Giants in a soggy Meadowlands.
Orlovsky cycled through a variety of ESPN shows repeating similar lines. He said: Wilson had persevered through “Four drops,” “a zero-run game” and a “torrential down pour.”
“….How does it not get categorized as a really good game?” Orlovsky asked.
“Because I saw it,” Domonique Foxworth, his colleague on ESPN’s “Get Up,” shot back.
With the Jets closing out week No. 9 against the Chargers on “Monday Night Football,” the time is right for ESPN to reinforce Wilson’s role as a reasonable facsimile of a lightning rod.
The goal is to attract as many eyeballs as possible to the NFL’s Monday standalone attraction. Any kind of hype surrounding Wilson, positive or negative, especially with Aaron Rodgers hanging out on the premises, only enhances the ratings possibilities.
And provides reasons why Wilson is like the piece of gum that sticks to your shoe. It’s like a similar brand of low-grade controversy that adheres to Wilson. It sticks just enough to keep him more interesting than the average storyline on “MNF.” Since his rookie season (2021) the Jets quarterback has (figuratively, of course) proven: You Can’t Kill Zach Wilson.
Whether it be minor off-field controversy, slipshod play, not respecting some of his teammates, or even Rodgers taking his job; nothing has yet to sink a career, which a sizeable number of Football Brainiacs have already predicted would happen.
Yet there Wilson stands, ready for not only a date on “MNF,” but for a return nationally televised engagement the following Sunday on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” taking on the Raiders. Back-to-back national TV appearances for the Jets and Wilson. And not one shrill cry for them to be flexed off the spot.
Wilson inspires an inviting gap between those wanting to see him crash and burn or have a breakout game. And even if he does succeed, there will be those, like SNY’s Willie Colon and Bart Scott, who will scream “fluke.”
That’s why the football world needs a guy like Orlovsky around to present another side of the Wilson story. Even if that story is often hard to believe.
BANK ON MORE CHEAP SHOTS
Even after the dust settled, Carl Banks could not escape from WFAN without absorbing a few more cheap shots.
On their Wednesday show, mid-day mouths Sal Licata and Brandon Tierney, who had previously hung up on Banks during a debate over the value of Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, said they both called the former Giants star and apologized. Even after their telephone apologies, the Talkies said Banks decided he didn’t want to return to his weekly segment.
Nonetheless, the beat went on Thursday. Licata/Tierney’s apology didn’t stop morning Gasbag Gregg Giannotti from reacting to pro-Banks blowback on X/Twitter from former Daily News football writer Gary Myers.
Giannotti, who assumed (but offered no proof) that Banks was the brains behind Myers’ tweet, blew a gasket. He smeared the quality of Banks’ WFAN segments saying, among other things:
“Nobody wanted it.”
“Management didn’t want it.”
“He did the spot for 20 years and it was boring as hell.”
“Most boring 15 minutes on radio.”
“No one listened to it.”
“And nobody is crying that it’s gone.”
Once again, this nonsense (was Giannotti carrying FAN management’s water?) further underscores what an awful relationship WFAN has with the Giants. As we have said in this space before, the Giants should sever their radio rights deal with FAN whenever that becomes possible.
The organization might even find another audio outlet that actually appreciates the relationship.
THREE’S JUST FINE
Can three hockey radio broadcasters carve up one Rangers package?
Must be so. Why else would MSG network suits have signed Alex Faust to join veteran play-by-play voices Kenny Albert and Don La Greca as part of the Rangers Radio Network (heard here on 98.7 FM) rotation.
Faust, 34, out of Brooklyn, comes to the Garden with an excellent reputation. He had been the TV voice of the Los Angeles Kings where he was hired in 2017 to replace the legendary Bob Miller who retired after a 44-year Hall of Fame career.
In June, the Kings said they would not renew Faust’s contract because the organization, in a cost-cutting mode, was combining its TV and radio broadcasts, aka, a simulcast.
At the time of his L.A. adios, Faust said: “The team is currently without a TV rightsholder partner for next season and I was told my role was a casualty of the current climate.”
TIKI DROPS THE BALL
It’s rare when Gasbags turn themselves in after making a mistake no one picked up on. Yet that’s exactly what CBS/FAN’s Tiki Barber did last week.
On his WFAN gabfest, Barber called himself out for not watching the kickers practice prior to him working Jets-Giants on CBS. Barber said if he was paying any attention at all he might have seen if Giants kicker Graham Gano, who missed two field goals, was having knee issues in practice.
“I could’ve commented [on the broadcast] when he got set to kick,” Barber said on FAN. “It was my fault. I got wrapped up in the Jets-Giants festivities before the game.”
AROUND THE DIAL
SXM’s Christopher (Mad Dog) Russo pondered (out loud) so many “solutions” to escape his “retirement” promise he wound up wearing everyone out. His con-job was more like one giant rope-a-dope. … At least we can say Don La Greca’s debut behind the MSG Knicks Radio microphone (vs. Cavs) Wednesday night didn’t suck. DLG started slow. Working with Wally Szczerbiak, there were some gaps in DLG’s play-by-play where we were not sure what player had the ball or where it was on the court. As the game progressed, DLG’s p-b-p was more detailed. On this occasion, La Greca was filling in for Knicks radio voice Ed Cohen who is dealing with health issues. … Nets’ YES TV voice Ian (The Bird) Eagle recently copped his eighth straight New York Emmy for play-by-play, his ninth in eleven years. Very impressive. Just wondering if he ever presented one of those trophies to his former partner Mike (Czar) Fratello who once hurt his back carrying The Bird.
* * *
DUDE OF THE WEEK: RYAN FITZPATRICK
He might have played for just about every NFL team, but that’s a good thing. As seen in Buffalo last week, Fitzpatrick brings joy and compassion to every community he has landed in. And his TV work on Prime Video is refreshing.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: DABO SWINNEY
For taking out his frustrations on a “fan.” The Clemson football coach directed a rant at a caller to his radio show who accused him of not earning his $11 million salary. Swinney actually blamed the caller for being a part of Clemson’s problem.
DOUBLE TALK
What Julius Randle said: “We’ve got to find a way to try to make the game a little bit easier for each other out there.”
What Julius Randle meant to say: “We need to play like a team. It’s not rocket science.”
