In a wide-ranging conversation about his career as the featured guest on the SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast, Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo gave an update on his son Colin’s career and that he has joined the team at Good Karma Brands’ ESPN West Palm.
Traina asked Russo during the interview, “…As a dad who’s got a son going into the talk radio business in West Palm Beach, Florida, do you have to be careful in giving him advice? How you give the advice?” Russo replied, “Yeah, I’ve talked to him every day. He’s doing these practice shows. He’s going to work with a partner, Tony Rizzo’s kid, the [WKNR host in] Cleveland, who is a great guy. Mike Rizzo is his son, and he is down doing these shows with Colin, so they’re both going to do it together.”
Rizzo was announced as an addition to the ESPN West Palm roster in mid-July, however no specific time slot was mentioned at the time.
Russo told Traina Colin has been working at the station for about a week and that “He is going to be on 4-6 in the afternoon.”
Russo also address his recent contract extension he signed with SiriusXM to continue doing his show as well as being the face and name behind the Mad Dog Radio channel. He is very happy with the deal he signed and said one major difference is for additional weeks of vacation time, giving him ten for the year. Russo talked about various things he might do with the additional time although he said he often doesn’t use all of his vacation time.
About his relationship with SiriusXM and the deal he said, “…So, they gave me a lot more time off. They’ve been very good to me for a long time. There were not any issues with it. First Take his helped because obviously it’s good for promotion. You know to me it was a no-brainer.”
Russo said he will reevaluate things when the contract is coming up, but said for now, “I’m 64 years old. What am I going to do? I still got a kid in college. What am I gonna do, travel the world? I’m not quite ready to do that.”
A few other highlights of the interview included:
Russo on Tom Brady’s analyst career: “He didn’t retire 20 years ago. I just don’t know if Brady will go out there and be critical of a guy who stinks.”
Russo on this year for Bill Belichick: “He’s got a lot more personality than you think he does. Will he be critical? He wants a job. He wants to coach. I’m a little surprised he is out there so much. Maybe it’s because he wants to make sure his name is in the circle here so he can get a job when the year is over…because if he didn’t want to have a job, why would he take these three jobs? He wants to break down the Panthers and the Bucs on a Friday on CW?”
Russo on Stephen A. Smith and ESPN: “I would be shocked if he left…I think he is great on air. He may not want to be pigeonholed doing sports…and he may not want to go in there every day for five days…but I would be absolutely floored [if he left]…everything for him, to me, stems from ESPN…he’s a great entertainer, he knows how to deliver the goods.”
