If you shook a Magic 8 Ball and asked it what the future holds for Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, you would almost certainly be met with “outlook hazy”. Mad Dog was a guest on the SI Media Podcast this week. Jimmy Traina brought up a comment he made on his SiriusXM show last month.
Traina wanted to know what Russo meant when he said that he would be with SiriusXM through the Super Bowl but after that, “we’ll see”.
Mad Dog joked that he may have said that on a slow day with no guests or calls when he was trying to create any kind of content he could. Then he answered more seriously.
“I am definitely going to be all over the Super Bowl and all over the fall,” he said. “I got four kids in college beginning this year. I have nobody in the house beginning August 28. That’s the first time in 24 or 25 years that that is going to occur for the Jeanie Russos and the Chris Russos.
“I get a kid who’s going to be the third assistant in Northern Arizona. You don’t think I’m going to be wrapped up in Flagstaff, Arizona there for a good part of the season? I have a daughter in San Diego. You think I’m not going to be interested in going out there to see her? I got Colin who is at Wisconsin. I could see him doing radio in a year or so, his senior year in Madison. And then you got a kid in Chicago going to college. So from that standpoint, freedom is important.”
Traina pointed out that Russo’s current contract will end next year. It is likely he will be asking for a new deal that includes plenty of time off in the winter months to visit his kids.
“I am 64 years old in two months. I can’t be doing this forever, correct?” Russo answered. “So from that perspective, you know I will definitely, definitely be everywhere through, say, February 14th. Give me a little leeway where I can at least reassess my life after I have everybody away for a term.”
Chris Russo is an institution for New York sports radio listeners and thanks to his SiriusXM show and his appearances on First Take, he has become a national star too. Traina guessed that would be too much for Russo to ever walk away from entirely.
Russo agreed that was true, but added that it would only ever be with SiriusXM. He said that he has kicked around the idea of doing podcasts only, but realizes he would lose the immediacy and spontaneity he currently enjoys.
He then joked that ultimately, the decision may not entirely be his. His wife will be itching for a new experience by the time the football season is over.
“This is the first time since 1998 that she’s going to have nobody in the house except me on the third floor breaking down Chargers and Chiefs on a Friday morning after the Thursday night game,” he said. “She’s going to say, ‘I can’t take this anymore. Give me the hell out of here.’”
