Report: ESPN considering putting Herbie and Fowler in MNF booth

[Mark80]

58 minutes ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

I've grown fond of Joe and Booger.

 

Bring on the confused reactions. Obviously not everyone agrees that they're terrible, or they wouldn't have gotten the job in the first place.

 

I'd rather listen to this crew than Buck/Aikman any day.

 

Hating on Booger is like hating on Nickelback. A few people started doing it, and then it became the cool thing to do. There may be some justification, but the herd mentality has pushed the disdain to an unreasonable level just because it's cool.

 

Ha!  Ha!  You like Nickelback.

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

They are voices I associate with college. I don’t think they should move them either. Plus Herbie is their face of College Game Day even though Fowler isn’t on there anymore. And while we are at it. Give us back Sam Ponder, rescue her from having to work with Rex every Sunday on nfl countdown. She belongs on CFB too 

Anyone who works with Rex has their talents wasted. She is talented on the sidelines and she is very pretty. 

 

I really like Herb. He knows the college game and has a talent to cover a game in a smooth way without the hucksterism that is too prevalent in the booth.

[Freddie's Dead]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I like Harlan but I am not sure him and McAfee would be a great mix. Harlan needs a calm color guy because he can get a bit over excited and lost in the moment. I think if you put him and McAfee in a box together they would end up shouting over one another and it would be a mess. Similarly I don't think Harlan could work with Romo. Just isn't the right mesh. Rich Gannon is good for him. Think he has to be matched with someone a bit deadpan.

 

EDIT: If there is a booth I'd put Harlan in at the moment I'd put him in the Fox booth if they insist on keeping Troy. Buck and Aikman are never excited. By anything. Harlan and Aikman could work.

 

I was thinking Kurt Warner, just take the Westwood One radio team and plop them into the MNF booth.

 

[EasternOHBillsFan]

The Traitor calling NFL games with Fowler???

 

No thanks... this is worse than no football... Herbie is a joke.

[sullim4]

ESPN is all about personalities rather than raw talent.  They have no interest in hiring a "nobody" like Kevin Harlan or Spero Dedes that does a good job of play-by-play.  Instead they want a personality that draws controversy and/or can fill programming hours outside of the actual football game.  This is exactly why they hired Dennis Miller, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, and the like.

 

CBS, on the other hand, sees raw talent in Romo and picks him up right after retirement.  Sean McManus actually cares about the quality of his broadcast so he sets him up to succeed - having him learn from and practice with Nantz before the season so that he doesn't look like a fool on opening weekend.  A few years later, ESPN is so desperate to land Romo that they throw buckets of money at him, but Romo is smarter than that and stays at a network where he can call the Super Bowl, AFC championship game, and high-profile golf tournaments.

 

This is a sign of desperation by ESPN.  They already have these guys under contract and with the COVID outbreak, they cannot afford to hire a high-priced "personality" that can fill this role.  The longer this goes on, the more people are learning that they can live without ESPN and that standalone streaming services are the way of the future.  ESPN stands to lose $8 per person that cancels cable... that is a ton of money, even for Disney.

 

I know people like to B word and moan about us getting the CBS D/E/F teams but I will take any of those combinations over what ESPN will likely offer.  ESPN could learn a thing or two from CBS.

[/dev/null]

12 hours ago, Bangarang said:

Kevin Harlan and Pat McaAfee would be an amazing duo.

 

I had to Google what Harlan looks like.  He's a great radio announcer and I had know idea what he looks like

[May Day 10]

Its a great team, but it just feels like college football and is unique to that.  I dont want/need it for the NFL. 

 

 

 

Im in the minority (extreme minority) who actually liked Booger.  He was cringe-worthy, but it was kind of in the entertaining and unintended way.  He was truly excited to be there and be a part of it which was fun.  Then he would say something completely head scratching and it would be funny (such as pleading with "America" not to allow defensive linemen to cover tight ends).

 

 

Would love Gus Johnson to do the MNF games

Edited April 7, 2020 by May Day 10

[dpberr]

Safe, weak and uninspired move.  I'd hate to work for that hand wringing, anxiety-ridden company.  

 

Instead of truly taking the time to fix the MNF product, they will instead have two broken products.  

[416BillsFan]

Dan Orlovsky is a great analyst, but I have no idea if that would translate to live color commentary, but he'd be my choice. I initially laughed when I saw the comment upstream about bringing back McDonough, but maybe it would work with a different analyst. He and Gruden had no chemistry so that could have thrown his rhythms off.

[Cripple Creek]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

My favourite Booger-ism which he says almost every time he breaks down a sack is "If the left tackle [exchange for any other OL position] blocks his man, that sack doesn't happen."

 

Well done Booger. Nothing gets past you.

He is a deep thinker.

[Mark Vader]

5 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Spiels is staying busy during quarantine 

 

 

 

Spielman is great.

 

I love that he doesn't play favorites from his NFL playing days in this video. Even better, the Bills helmet is red, and he has the old Lions logo.

[Mat68]

Thats ESPNs best combo.  I assume ESPN is getting leveraged by NFL to step up the quality.  A few years ago they moved away from talent and too personalties like Stephen A.  Nessler and Tirico are 2 guys who are still better than anybody they have now and they let both leave.

[Mr. WEO]

15 hours ago, /dev/null said:

 

Same here.  I love watching some ABC/ESPN College Football games with this pair, but I'm not sure how well their game translates to the NFL.

 

Part of what makes Herbie and Fowler so great at College Football is they genuinely seem to love the game.

 

Part of what makes ESPN MNF so bad recently is the NFL and ESPN have been pushing Narratives, on and off the field, that their announcers have had to frame the game in terms of.  That and the ESPN MNF on air crew is what, about a dozen or so personalities counting the pregame and halftime clowns they have to squeeze in at some point

 

 

Ever watch ESPN College Game Day?  Non-stop hours of hype and narratives.

 

 

[stinky finger]

16 hours ago, KD in CA said:

Bring back Sean McDonough.

 

I'm listening

[msw2112]

I like Herbie and Fowler for college games - not sure if they would be the right fit for NFL.  It really surprises me how the networks struggle so much to find decent talent.  With all the national and local sportscasters out there, you'd think that the top networks and the top leagues could find a few decent broadcast teams.  As to some of the other names that were mentioned in the thread, I like Harland and I like Gus Johnson.  I love Chris Speilman the person and the player, but not a huge fan of him as a broadcaster.   I really dislike Spiro Dedes and cringe every time he gets assigned to a Bills broadcast, but I'd listen to him 24/7 before having to listen to Beth Mowins.

Edited April 7, 2020 by msw2112

[eball]

15 hours ago, StHustle said:

Never got why people hate Booger so much (besides the terrible nickname). He is one of the he more knowledgeable guys on broadcasting and articulates it well imo. I think all he needs is polish.

 

Would love to hear the reasons you want Booger out of the job. I always see people bad talk him but rarely hear any reasons of substance

 

Well, this post proves that EVERYBODY has a fan.

[eball]

5 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

I've grown fond of Joe and Booger.

 

Bring on the confused reactions. Obviously not everyone agrees that they're terrible, or they wouldn't have gotten the job in the first place.

 

I'd rather listen to this crew than Buck/Aikman any day.

 

Hating on Booger is like hating on Nickelback. A few people started doing it, and then it became the cool thing to do. There may be some justification, but the herd mentality has pushed the disdain to an unreasonable level just because it's cool.

 

I don't dislike Booger that much; he used to be good on SiriusXM but I think ESPN is encouraging him to be more of a clown.  At the end of the day he's harmless.

 

Tessatore, however, is perhaps the worst play-by-play guy I've ever heard.  He has Gus Johnson enthusiasm at the most inopportune moments, and has no "feel" for the game whatsoever.  I have told the story of how at the end of the 4th quarter of the Bills/Texans playoff game he exclaimed, breathlessly, that "NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE NFL HAS A PLAYOFF GAME GONE TO OVERTIME TIED AT 19!!!!!"

 

The dude has no freaking clue and needs to go back to announcing college swimming or something like that.

[billsfan89]

I have no clue why ESPN can't put together a good MNF program. They have the resources and the justification for it. But yet they haven't had a good MNF team and broadcast for a long time if ever. 

[Paup 1995MVP]

On 3/24/2020 at 4:51 PM, C.Biscuit97 said:

Yeah, I hate former MVPs and SB qbs too.  
 

I never got the hate Cam has gotten.  I bet a lot of the people who don’t like him are very similar looking.  Brady screams at his coaches - passionate.  Rivers talks crap to an opponent - competitor.  Rodgers has a td celebration- confident.  Newton does the same - cocky jerk who isn’t about the team.

 

i hope he is healthy and signs with a good team.  Guy is a baller and what we should hope Allen comes close to being. 

MVP 

SB

Heisman

National championship 

Most rushing yards for a qb 

rookie passing records

 

hell, we are building a statue for Allen who can’t sniff Newton’s resume.  

 

7 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Spiels is staying busy during quarantine 

 

 

That is a riot Yolo.  Thanks for sharing.  Spielman is a nut.  Who is the chick?  His daughter or his girlfriend?  I went to Michigan when he was at Ohio State.  But I still respect the hell out of him.  

[freester]

7 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Gus Johnson is the best sports announcer going.  Noone has his enthusiasm and his use of the English language is tremendous.  Him and Joel Klatt make a great team on Fox College Football.  Can't stand Herbie.  Acts like a know it all and thinks he is the Commissioner of College Football.  Fowler is good calling the game (and he is a big Metallica fan)  But ESPN college gameday by this point is so old news.  Maybe you have to be in your 20's to like it.  To me its just overkill.  Bring me the games.  Who has time for all the extra shtick.  Chris Spielman is very underrated.  Has great knowledge of the game.  And really good humor.  If you youngsters could have watched him play.  That was a football player.  As tough as they come.  So many of you talk about Matt Milano, and how good you think he is.  Back 20 years ago he would not have made it on the field at his size.  You had to be able to tackle.  And that meant putting someone on their ass.  I think Spielman had 26 tackles in the Michigan-Ohio State game in 1986.  Chew on that as you all start your day.

I just watched “A football life “ Chris Spielman. He was awesome. I wish we had him for more of his prime years. Herbie is awesome, one of the most knowledgeable TV guys out there. I just wish those two guys had gone to Michigan instead of Ohio State. 

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

 

That is a riot Yolo.  Thanks for sharing.  Spielman is a nut.  Who is the chick?  His daughter or his girlfriend?  I went to Michigan when he was at Ohio State.  But I still respect the hell out of him.  

That’s his daughter. He put out several videos about tackling techniques and the like with his kids , pretty good quarantine entertainment 

[dpberr]

2 hours ago, billsfan89 said:

I have no clue why ESPN can't put together a good MNF program. They have the resources and the justification for it. But yet they haven't had a good MNF team and broadcast for a long time if ever. 

 

Fundamentally flawed approach to start - it's considered "entertainment" and produced by the same people that make the sitcoms and shows America allegedly "loves".

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paup 1995MVP]

2 hours ago, freester said:

I just watched “A football life “ Chris Spielman. He was awesome. I wish we had him for more of his prime years. Herbie is awesome, one of the most knowledgeable TV guys out there. I just wish those two guys had gone to Michigan instead of Ohio State. 

Agree about Spielman.  Disagree about Herbstreit.  He is a legend in his own mind if you ask me.  Soon he won't be able to fit into his suits as he keeps getting puffier and puffier.  I like a lot of the secondary college football announcing pairings on ESPN that don't get the 8pm Saturday games.  But are very entertaining nonetheless.  And lets not forget about Charles Davis.  Another great analyst.  

[billsfan89]

1 hour ago, dpberr said:

 

Fundamentally flawed approach to start - it's considered "entertainment" and produced by the same people that make the sitcoms and shows America allegedly "loves".

 

 

Other broadcasts go with a more fun approach and get better results. It isn't even like they are good at the approach either. 

[YoloinOhio]

34 minutes ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Agree about Spielman.  Disagree about Herbstreit.  He is a legend in his own mind if you ask me.  Soon he won't be able to fit into his suits as he keeps getting puffier and puffier.  I like a lot of the secondary college football announcing pairings on ESPN that don't get the 8pm Saturday games.  But are very entertaining nonetheless.  And lets not forget about Charles Davis.  Another great analyst.  

On madden too lol

[Chicharito]

Monday night football ratings slide isn’t due to the announce team. It’s the product it’s self. When the NFL finally realizes that us fans don’t care about the cowboys and patriots that are forced on us week after week ratings will climb!

[SydneyBillsFan]

22 hours ago, StHustle said:

Never got why people hate Booger so much (besides the terrible nickname). He is one of the he more knowledgeable guys on broadcasting and articulates it well imo. I think all he needs is polish.

 

Would love to hear the reasons you want Booger out of the job. I always see people bad talk him but rarely hear any reasons of substance.

 

That's because there are none. 

 

He speaks clearly - minus the waffle - and gives good technical insights on each and every play. Right up there with the best in the business IMO.

 

There is NO justifiable rationale for labelling Booger a poor NFL commentator.

[KD in CA]

7 hours ago, inaugural balls said:

 

I'm listening

 

Guy is a solid play caller, has an excellent, understated sense of humor, gets excited when the situation calls for it (and not otherwise)......what else do people want?   

I was so happy when he turned up on MNF a few years ago.   Terrible decision to take him off.

[beerme1]

19 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

You beat me to Kevin Harlan.  Best in the biz right now.

 

He used to annoy the hell out of me. I love his passion now though. He ramps up according to the play.

[stinky finger]

1 hour ago, KD in CA said:

 

Guy is a solid play caller, has an excellent, understated sense of humor, gets excited when the situation calls for it (and not otherwise)......what else do people want?   

I was so happy when he turned up on MNF a few years ago.   Terrible decision to take him off.

 

Couldnt agree more. How he’s not more front and center is beyond me. 

 

I’m a Yankee fan living in MA and loved him on Red Sox broadcasts. 

 

I think that much of him. 

 

 

[BarleyNY]

13 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

If the NFL has a season with no fans, CFB will do the same. The money is in the TV deals etc. There is a rumor from a good source that the first 4 college weeks on the schedule will be played without fans. 

The other concern is when kids will go back to college.  Can’t play games if the players aren’t there.  I’ve heard from friends that UB is making contingency plans in case kids can’t go back in the fall.

[BarleyNY]

7 hours ago, freester said:

I just watched “A football life “ Chris Spielman. He was awesome. I wish we had him for more of his prime years. Herbie is awesome, one of the most knowledgeable TV guys out there. I just wish those two guys had gone to Michigan instead of Ohio State. 

Got to briefly meet Chris Spielman.  He seemed like a nice guy.  I volunteered at a charity golf outing that a friend of mine helped organize.  It raised money for The Stephanie Spielman Foundation that year and he came to the dinner after.  He seemed to really appreciate it. 

 

Bite your tongue on the Michigan comment.  Blasphemy. 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

This season you require three elements: two announcers and a game being played.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

On 4/6/2020 at 7:16 PM, StHustle said:

Never got why people hate Booger so much (besides the terrible nickname). He is one of the he more knowledgeable guys on broadcasting and articulates it well imo. I think all he needs is polish.

 

Would love to hear the reasons you want Booger out of the job. I always see people bad talk him but rarely hear any reasons of substance

I agree. His comments are spot on.  

 

But the guy that should move up is Jay Feely.  Maybe not all the way to MNF but at least to the second crew.  He is really good with quickly going through different strategic decisions.

[Matt_In_NH]

Beth Mowins?

[YoloinOhio]

On 4/7/2020 at 7:27 AM, Paup 1995MVP said:

Gus Johnson is the best sports announcer going.  Noone has his enthusiasm and his use of the English language is tremendous.  Him and Joel Klatt make a great team on Fox College Football.  Can't stand Herbie.  Acts like a know it all and thinks he is the Commissioner of College Football.  Fowler is good calling the game (and he is a big Metallica fan)  But ESPN college gameday by this point is so old news.  Maybe you have to be in your 20's to like it.  To me its just overkill.  Bring me the games.  Who has time for all the extra shtick.  Chris Spielman is very underrated.  Has great knowledge of the game.  And really good humor.  If you youngsters could have watched him play.  That was a football player.  As tough as they come.  So many of you talk about Matt Milano, and how good you think he is.  Back 20 years ago he would not have made it on the field at his size.  You had to be able to tackle.  And that meant putting someone on their ass.  I think Spielman had 26 tackles in the Michigan-Ohio State game in 1986.  Chew on that as you all start your day.

Funny that this was just tweeted today. Spielman is very humble and says that every time the story is told the # of tackles seems to go up

 

 

[BuffaloHokie13]

Not saying he should go straight to MNF, but with the success of Romo I've gotta wonder if Alex Smith gets a job in the booth somewhere. 

[YoloinOhio]

20 minutes ago, BuffaloHokie13 said:

Not saying he should go straight to MNF, but with the success of Romo I've gotta wonder if Alex Smith gets a job in the booth somewhere. 

He’s supposedly super intelligent with film study  so I could see him being able to translate that to some of the things Romo does with recognizing plays pre-snap. 

[BuffaloHokie13]

Just now, YoloinOhio said:

He’s supposedly super intelligent with film study  so I could see him being able to translate that to some of the things Romo does with recognizing plays pre-snap. 

I honestly think he'd be really good at it. And it'd be a nice way to stay involved in the sport after a miserable injury, even if he is still attempting to recover. 

[Paup 1995MVP]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Funny that this was just tweeted today. Spielman is very humble and says that every time the story is told the # of tackles seems to go up

 

I believe we won the game though.  Have to love that old school MLB.  That personified pro football for so many years.  I remember watching Spielman broadcast college games.  He would be on the field before the game or at half time showing some move to get around an O lineman wearing his shirt and tie.  Cracked me up.  Another guy in his ilk is Matt Millen.  Another warrior who was a champion on the field and a very glib entertaining announcer off of it.  One black mark.  His GM tenure with the Lions.  I can not remember a GM hated by a fan base as much as Millen was in Detroit.