Today’s sports media talking heads are getting increasingly vanilla. Sure you have a Charles Barkley here and an Alexi Lalas there, but the majority of big time national television network pundits are often dry. Every team is great. Every player is “among the best in the game.” Monday Night Football’s Jon Gruden takes the most heat for embodying this stereotype, but there are plenty more in this vein.
This landscape makes the excellent, irreverent work of CBS’ London Fletcher stand out even more. He’s not afraid to be an iconoclast, and his strong opinions are backed up with facts.
Here’s London Fletcher on the Oakland Raiders organization today on a September 2014 episode of “That Other Pregame Show.” (CBS Sports Network’s answer to “The NFL Today” on CBS).
“The only reason a veteran goes to Oakland is to get a payday. No player, all things considered equal, wants to go play for Oakland. They just don’t. The Raiders went out and got a bunch of aging veterans whose better days are behind them.”
Here is London Fletcher on former Washington Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett:
“Why does Jim Haslett still have his job as defensive coordinator after five years of ineptitude at the defensive coordinator position? He is clueless as a defensive coordinator. He lacks attention to detail. He lacks feel on how to call a game. Some of the calls he used to call when I was playing were head scratching. They were so bad I used to change them…This is a guy that would take the ’85 Bears and turn them into a mediocre defense.”
“He is clueless. He has no idea what he is doing. Believe me. I had a front row seat for four years.”
That’s just an excerpt, here’s a link to the whole Haslett critique. Fletcher played under Haslett for four seasons.
I sat down with Fletcher at NFL on CBS/NFL Network Media Day. Here’s the audio file below. The discussion about the art of NFL punditry begins around the 6:00 mark. (There’s a lot of Cutler, Bears talk at the beginning)
“I was a passionate player and I’m passionate about the game of football. I love the game of football and I don’t get up there and just rattle off opinions without doing research, looking at games, looking at statistics,” Fletcher said.
“For instance, I’ve looked at a ton of film on Jay and the Chicago Bears, I’m not just watching highlights of him throwing interceptions, or whoever else it may be.”
“I want to be fair, honest and true in all of things that I say good or bad.”
Fletcher’s commentary on Jay Cutler on September 7th, 2014 pretty much forecasted the entire Bears season last here. Have a read here. Looking back now, it was rather prescient.
I also asked London Fletcher his thoughts on the future home of the NFL Draft:
“If you could put the draft in those cities it would be a good thing for bringing a lot of people into their city and the local economy.”
NFL Media Day Preview Series
–Tony Gonzalez very optimistic on Raiders prospects, loves uniform and colors
–John Fox is the best thing the Chicago Bears have going for them
-Does Chicago Deserve a three-peat as NFL Draft host?
-Erin Coscarelli Oakland Raiders Season Preview
-Erin Coscarelli Chicago Bears Season Preview
-Tony Gonzalez sees Khalil Mack becoming the NFL’s best Linebacker
-London Fletcher on the art of NFL punditry
-Bears fans expecting Jay Cutler to change are insane
–Bart Scott sizes up the NFC North race
-Can Vic Fangio be the Chicago Bears savior?
-Curtis Conway analyzes Bears off-season
–Jim Nantz sees Raiders returning to relevance soon
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 the Zone.
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