Fox had a Super Bowl conference call yesterday to talk about the upcoming broadcast next week in Jersey, but the most interesting comment was the confirmation that the network was the one who cut off Richard Sherman last week in Seattle. Fox producer Richie Zyontz, who will also lead the Super Bowl broadcast, made the call in the truck to leave Sherman and Erin Andrews because it was a situation that seemed to be getting out of control.
“It was compelling television, but it started crossing over a line that I just didn’t want to see us go. Erin [Andrews] handled it very well, but I said, ‘Let’s end this thing.’ He’s [Sherman] a good guy. He’s an intelligent guy and he’s an emotional guy, and it was very compelling to watch, but it started to get a little dangerous for us.”
The "dangerous" aspect is in reference to Sherman possibly dropping an f-bomb or something along those lines. It's an understandable decision from Fox and Zyontz, but one I think most people would disagree with. Zyontz praising the work of Andrews should take any ridiculous heat that remains off the reporter for doing a fine job with the interview. The compelling nature of the interview should have outweighed any potential risk of Sherman violating FCC standards. Isn't there a seven second delay anymore? Someone in the truck should have had the foresight to see that this interview would be the story of the entire week and stuck with it until Sherman was done pontificating.
Then again, maybe Fox made the right decision. After the way the Sherman interview has been over-analyzed by every single person with access to television, radio, or a keyboard it was best to cut it short. If not, we might still be talking about the interview to end all interviews until July.
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