Michael Strahan and Kelly Ripa were talking about the controversy surrounding WFAN radio hosts and their bizarre attacks on New York Mets second basemen Daniel Murphy for taking a paternity leave. Naturally, the discussion opened itself up to even more facepalm-inducing commentary from the former Giants defensive end.
Here’s Michael Strahan, ex-NFL player hosting his own morning talk show, on the evils of people who haven’t been there before.
“I don’t listen to those guys on the radio who talk about sports but who have never played any sports.”
Says the ex-NFL player hosting his own morning talk show. Oy… here we go again. Here’s the full video from Guyism…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE8jwEso28E
“I never listened to the opinion of someone who the last time they put on a uniform was when their mom took them trick-or-treating.”
This is an unfortunate, tired cliche that we hear far too often from ex-athletes. As if the opinions of people like Peter Gammons and Chris Mortensen are automatically worth nothing because they never put a jersey on. As if all of us as human beings are defined by our narrow life experiences and we aren’t allowed to have a thought or opinion outside of that. You want to vote in the presidential election and take part in our representative democracy? TOO BAD BECAUSE YOU’VE NEVER BEEN THERE BEFORE.
Why is it so hard to comprehend in sports that there’s a lot of space to explore between “having to play professional sports to express an opinion about sports” and “Boomer Esiason’s thoughts on C-sections.” You don’t see Bob Schieffer shut down on CBS News because he hasn’t been in the negotiating room with Vladimir Putin, do you?
Of course, the mindless studio audience of Kelly & Michael applauded Strahan for his commentary, not realizing the full implications of his logic.
By Strahan’s logic, he should offer his resignation on Kelly & Michael today. He was a professional football player. What place does he have to comment on the entertainment industry? (And no, starring in Brothers, which lasted one season on Fox, does not count.)
What gives Strahan the right to comment on pop culture? He hasn’t toured with Justin Bieber. He hasn’t been seduced on stage by Miley Cyrus. Strahan wants to join Good Morning America? I don’t think so. Unless I see that culinary arts diploma, he’s clearly not qualified to do a morning show cooking segment. And forget doing those features that are focused on heartwarming stories in middle America. This is a multi-millionaire who played his professional career in New York City. He can’t relate to the life of the common man.
But does anyone expect Strahan to give up his newfound, successful morning show career because he hasn’t spent his life working in television?
Of course not. So maybe he should allow the same courtesy to others.
[Guyism]
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