Chapter 1: What prompted the discussion about former players rooting for their teams?
What I'm calling about, I was wondering if you saw it. I don't remember what the broadcast was, but Randy Moss, when they were all making their picks.
Yeah, that's ESPN. Yes, ESPN.
So they were all up in New England. Right. But Randy Moss and Teddy Bruschi were so actively rooting for You know, when they come, we got some of whatever they were saying. So I was wondering what you thought about that. Is that something that as an announcer, Boomer, as a commentator that you want to do?
I don't know. You know, I work with Coach Cower and Phil Sims, and both of those guys are legendary figures in the eyes of the franchises that they either worked for or played for. And I do believe that Phil Simms rooted for the Giants, and I do believe that Bill Cowher was rooting for the Steelers.
And any time there was ever a game, especially against the Browns or the Bills or the Bengals, Cowher and I would always have a good back and forth about that. I don't think there's anything wrong about rooting for the team that you played for, especially if you are legendary players like Randy and Teddy were. And they were outside in front of Patriots fans. Yeah.
So I can imagine how Rex Ryan was probably a little uncomfortable up there. Because it would be the other way for him. I don't know who those guys picked going into those games. But it's natural. I mean, I was out there with the Bengals for an AFC championship game in Kansas City. And I did pick the Bengals to win. They did win that game.
I didn't feel like I was rooting for them, but when I saw Mike Brown, the owner of the team, on the field at his advanced stage, accepting the Lamar Hunt Trophy in Kansas City, I don't know. I felt happy for him. Yeah. I really felt happy for the fans of the Bengals, for the franchise, and certainly for Zach Taylor and Joe Burrow.
Yeah, I mean, there's no problem with that at all, especially if it's your team that you're rooting for.
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Chapter 2: How do commentators like Boomer Esiason view rooting for former teams?
You certainly don't have a problem with it. And then if the fans, let's say that Randy Moss and Teddy Bruschi and whoever else that were Patriots were picking against them, then the Patriot fans would hate them, and that wouldn't be good for their business either. Yeah. I mean, it's a silly thing. And by the way, we sit here and do picks. None of it matters who the hell anybody's picking.
It's just entertainment. So whatever. You want their analysis on the game. You want what they think. And they're going to give you their honest opinions. But when it comes to picking the game, they're going to pick their team.
I'll tell you, we had a... I think I've told you this story when I was on the NFL today when Dan Marino was there. And both Dan and I picked Tennessee to beat the Raiders in the AFC Championship game that was going to be played in Oakland. And... It may have been Eric Mann. I'm not sure if Drew Kaliske was the producer. I'm not really sure.
But somebody determined that a good spot for the NFL today to do their broadcast from in the stadium would be from that area where all the maniacs sit. What do they call that in the black hole? All right, so we're going to do our telecast from the black hole.
And I'll never forget, man, Raider fans, all those people that wore all those outfits and everything were screaming at me and Dan because earlier, you know, in the week before, after we found out where we were going, we ended up picking, kind of thinking that we were going to pick Tennessee. And some guy was screaming and yelling at me.
First of all, you know, he was trying to make fun of me by calling me Phil Sims. You know, and it was on, going on and on. I just shut the F up.
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Chapter 3: What examples illustrate the tension between rooting and professionalism?
I mean, I wanted to do what President Trump did to some jackass the other day. But anyway, I didn't do that. And then the guy just keeps going, keeps going, keeps going, keeps going. And he says then, and take that. What's a Hasselhoff looking guy, Marino, with you? Called him Hasselhoff.
David Hasselhoff. Hasselhoff, yes.
Chapter 4: How do legendary players like Randy Moss and Teddy Bruschi demonstrate their loyalty?
It's not that much of an insult, though, is it?
I was actually crying laughing. It was so funny the way the guy delivered it.
The way that Dan reacted to it. Yeah, I mean, Dan can't get it. I mean, stuff like that. Rolling off his back.
I'll never forget we go to Pittsburgh for one of those AFC championship games. And I picked the Patriots to beat the Steelers. Okay. And Dan whipped up all the Pittsburgh fans against me. Of course he did. And he's from there, obviously. Of course. So they're going to listen to him. And they're like me because I'm a former Cincinnati Bengal player. Yeah, they hate you to begin with.
And they probably all think that I'm doing everything I can to root against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm like, can we all be adults here for five seconds? No.
Nobody can. When it comes to sports, nobody can. I mean, I don't know how many times you have to hear phone calls we have taken that this national broadcaster or that national broadcaster hates this particular team and they want that team to lose. More often than not, probably 100% of the time, that's just not true.
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