I like Jimmy Johnson. I’ve always liked Jimmy Johnson. Jimmy has swagger but is also just so passionate about football and that always came through on the television whether he was coaching or analyzing for FOX Sports. Plus, that Port Arthur, Texas accent just always added a little flavor to it.
I think for me it’s also because Jimmy, in my head, is more of a college football guy than a professional football guy even though he has a couple of Super Bowl rings. How could anyone not have loved Jimmy Johnson in the 80’s at Miami?
Anyway, this column isn’t about whether or not you or I like Jimmy Johnson, this is about his recent decision to step away from broadcasting and the FOX NFL Sunday show he has been a part of since 1994.
“As you know, probably the most fun I’ve ever had in my career, and that’s counting Super Bowls and National Championships, was at FOX Sports,” Johnson told Colin Cowherd earlier this week. “I have an absolute ball with my friends on the set, and the best friends I’ve ever had there with FOX. And I’ll tell you on top of that, I love working for Eric Shanks, our CEO, and our producer Bill Richards, but I’ve made an extremely difficult decision.
“I’ve been thinking about it for the last four or five years, and I’ve decided to retire from FOX, and I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss all the guys, and I’ll see them occasionally, but it has been a great run starting back 31 years ago.”
And with that, the first member of the show’s ‘Day One trio’ of Johnson, Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long has walked away. And I for one think the rest of them should go with him. Literally, every other member of the show whether they were there from the beginning or not should be replaced. It’s time.
Admittedly, I’ve watched very little of any NFL pregame show in the last couple of years. It isn’t that I’m not interested or don’t want to watch, it’s that none of them do anything for me. I really want to like what NFL Network does on Sunday mornings, but then they start screaming and howling and I have to get back to catching up on episodes of Dexter.
ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown used to be great but is far from it now. It always feels to me like they try and solve their NFL pregame show by adding more people and voices and it is all very confusing and very loud.
CBS and FOX lost me years ago – the shows are old and stale and most of the people who are the analysts because they either played the game or coached the game, played and coached something that doesn’t resemble today’s game at all.
CBS made some changes, but with James Brown and Bill Cowher still there it isn’t going to change much. FOX Sports, meanwhile, now has to wait until Terry Bradshaw calls his own shot and says he is retiring, I guess.
Is 76-year-old Terry Bradshaw, or 65-year-old Howie Long, helping the network drive younger viewers? Why wait? Use this opportunity to reinvent the show. Curt Menefee has been fine, but Curt Menefee isn’t a dynamic personality and wouldn’t be the person you want leading a new team. Heck, even Michael Strahan last played in the NFL 18 years ago!
It is way past time for this show to make some major change and Johnson has given them the opportunity to make real change and get back to not just having good ratings (because it’s the NFL and everything the NFL does has good ratings) – how about creating great programming? How about creating a new show that focuses on the generations of people who will decide how those ratings go in the future?
One of these networks is going to figure it out and put on something completely new that is going to take all of the Sunday morning audience in the future. If I were an executive with FOX Sports, I would take Jimmy’s news and not hesitate to use it as the first move of preparing for the future. A future that can no longer include people who played or coached when Richard Nixon was in office.
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The Best/Worst Thing I’ve Heard/Watched/Read Recently
I don’t care if you never watched an episode of Around the Horn or watched all 4,900+ shows, if you didn’t see or read Tony Reali’s remarks when the news became official that the show was ending, take the time to do so. Here is what he said to the audience:
“Hello! I want to thank everybody, the millions upon millions, literally, that saw the news and the thousands upon thousands that commented. Could’ve crashed the system here, they never get that much love for one show. I need you to see me right now, I want you to see my face as I say this. There’s going to be tough days in your life. Meeting those head on is a good strategy.
“Our great show will be signing off this air in a few months, May 23rd is our final episode of Around the Horn. I’ve got three months. I intend to respond to you all, but I’ll say this in the meantime. You want to be happy for an hour? Have my mom’s pasta. You want to be happy for a day? Watch Goodfellas. You want to be happy for a week? Hang out with me. If you want to be happy for life, either get engaged at the LaGuardia airport bathroom or find a place where people will miss you when it’s over. I’ve got both right now, we feel your love. Around the Horn.”
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In Case You Missed It
Earlier this week, John Mamola wrote a piece about the great Bob Uecker and how somebody will have the unenviable task of having to replace him as the ‘Voice of the Brewers.’
Mamola wrote, “Uecker called games for the Brewers for 54 seasons and was a well-known broadcaster, actor, pitchman, Hall of Famer, and a regular on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. No other voice in baseball carried the unique resume or legacy that Uecker did. Now, the challenge moving forward is how the next person tasked with calling Brewers games can maintain the connection that Uecker held for over half a century.”
John also included this great quote from Philadelphia Phillies play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy who once had to replace legendary Phillies voice Harry Kalas.
“It’s really hard to be a Major League broadcaster. When you try to be somebody other than yourself, you’ve made that job 100 times harder.”
You can read the full feature by clicking here.
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Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
