September 12, 2006
Dick Vermeil For Monday Night Football
Back in 2005 when the NFL aired two Monday night games to start the season because the Saints couldn't play at home in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, ABC Sports and the league discovered that they had a great play by play football voice on their hands in Mike Tirico.
I'm sure that performance helped Tirico sew up the play-by-play spot on MNF on ESPN this season. They also found out that Sterling Sharpe was as good a color man as the league had too, but for some reason they didn't find him a place in a booth where I think he can really shine.
It looks like we've got a similar situation on our hands tonight with the trio in the booth for the Raiders-Chargers nightcap from Oakland. Brad Nessler is doing fine, but both Ron Jaworski and Dick Vermeil are really shining tonight. I've always liked Jaworski's work on NFL Matchup, but the guy I'm really impressed with is Vermeil. In between coaching stints with Philly and St. Louis Vermeil spent plenty of years in the booth doing college football for ABC Sports, and he hasn't missed a beat with his performance tonight.
Vermeil knows what he's talking about, he's passionate and he's a genuinely funny guy, never more so than during the pregame when he described the Raiders locker room as just "bitching" about their old school head coach Art Shell.
When Vermeil said it, I stopped for a second and thought, can he say that on television? Then Nessler said it too and I remembered MNF was on cable. Good enough for me.
I've already said that ESPN ought to replace Joe Theisman on MNF with his ex-teammate John Riggins, and I think it's time to add Vermeil to that list. I think he'd be a great foil for the cranky Kornheiser, and infinitely better than Theisman is right now. The only question is whether or not Vermeil wants the job. It's clear that he doesn't need it, and something tells me MNF needs him more than he needs MNF.
If I were Theisman, I wouldn't be sleeping well.
Can you hear the footsteps from your blindside, Joe? This time it isn't Lawrence Taylor.
UPDATE: Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels this way about Vermeil. See Deadspin, The Mighty MJD and The Out Route.
And Deadspin is right, we ought to play two every Monday Night -- one East Coast and one West Coast, though we might have to wait to get a new team (or two) in L.A. before it can really happen. Heck, I'd settle for 4 doubleheaders a year on Monday night, timed for maximum playoff drama.
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12:11 AM