Super Bowl LI is still a very touchy subject to Atlanta Falcons fans, and the wounds of February 5, 2017 were seemingly reopened during Week 1 over the weekend thanks to CBS broadcaster Andrew Catalon.
Catalon was doing his halftime hit for the Bucs/Vikings game, when he seemed to mention the score 28-3 to broadcast partner Matt Ryan. Ryan was the quarterback of the Falcons in Super Bowl LI when Atlanta blew a 28-3 lead in the second half to the New England Patriots. Ryan’s facial expression when Catalon mentioned the score was interpreted by many on social media as taking offense to a jab Catalon was making.
On Evan & Tiki on WFAN on Monday, Tiki Barber, who was also on the call with Catalon and Ryan, said the comment about the score to Matt was completely harmless.
“To Andrew Catalon, 28-3 means nothing,” Barber said. “It’s an arbitrary score, but it doesn’t mean anything to Andrew Catalon. It doesn’t mean anything to me. And by the way, it doesn’t mean anything to Matt either. I swear to you he doesn’t care.”
“That’s not offending Matt Ryan, because to be honest, that’s not on Matt Ryan,” Barber added. “That’s on Kyle Shanahan.”
Barber corroborated Catalon’s story about how at halftime of the game, the trio was having a bite to eat and talking about mistakes that Minnesota was making. The score at halftime was 10-10. Barber said it was Matt Ryan who brought up the 28-3 score, but even then it wasn’t meant to be a self-deprecating joke.
“Matt, myself and Andrew are talking, and Matt says, ‘God this game should be like 28-3,'” Barber said. “28-3 doesn’t really register automatically as something negative. He says he just regurgitates exactly what Matt said to him.”
“I don’t think he was doing it in any context other than that’s what the score should’ve actually been,” Tiki added.
Barber said the idea of 28-3 being some kind of rib even went over his head. Co-host Evan Roberts asked when it registered that Catalon had maybe inadvertently ticked off the Falcons fanbase.
“It didn’t until we’re in the car heading to the airport and Andrew’s on his phone, and he’s like, ‘Dude I’m getting crushed!'” Barber said.
