The Replacement

Last night, while watching the Nascar race on TV, which was actually taking place in Phoenix, I discovered that John Madden has retired from broadcasting.

First of all, let me say that I actually liked John Madden in the booth. He understood football, and yet avoided becoming so technical about it that you felt it was being played by mechanical bulls and statistics. He once observed the usually dapper Tom Landry coaching on the sidelines and said. “Don’t you think his pants look a little baggy?” I laughed out loud, because the exact same thought was crossing my mind at that moment.

Back to the dilemma - Who will Al Michaels recruit as his football broadcasting partner?
Having given this some thought, it needs to be someone to balance Al’s somewhat intellectual and dry play by play. It should be someone who knows the game from the inside (unlike Al), probably a former coach or player with a sense of humor but not a buffoon or the class clown.

I have some suggestions:

Frank Calliendo:
He does a pretty good Madden imitation
Matt Millen:
He knows the broadcasting business, he’s a former player, but wait… he also needs to know football… too bad
Ted Thompson:
Once again, as I said… needs to know football. Also, he already has a job. Someone please make him an offer he can’t refuse.
O.J. Simpson:
Oh, that’s right… now he is in jail.
Dennis Miller:
They tried this and it didn’t really work. Maybe Conan, or Jay, or Jimmy Kimmel. No, I don’t think so.
Brett Favre:
I actually think this would be my real choice. He definitely knows the game… is well liked and has a good sense of humor. Plus we could still watch him every week.