While working out at the gym today, I had the misfortune of watching ESPN News. On the screen was Shaun King, the former Tulane/Bucs quarterback, who was breaking down the play of Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford. King’s thoughts included:
A. Bradford is great on the run.
B. Bradford finds open receivers.
C. Bradford has a strong arm.
And then—honestly for the first time—it fully hit me: Ex-athletes-turned-commentators are completely useless. I know … I know—no duh. But let’s think about it: Outside of rare exceptions (Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth come to mind), what athlete/TV commentators ever say anything you or I wouldn’t? Like King, I could have told you Bradford can throw on the run, finds open receivers and has a cannon. Hell, who doesn’t know that?
And yet, the networks, especially ESPN, load up on these people in an effort to look authoritative. I can’t stand 20 seconds of Stu Scott or Chris Berman, but there’s nothing Trent Dilfer or Moose Johnston has said that those two guys couldn’t have, either.
In short, oy.
