Imagine a scenario where Charles Barkley walked off the set of Inside the NBA, claiming mental health issues, after a report that he had an affair with Kenny Smith’s ex-wife. It would be the biggest sports media scandal today, maybe ever, and a huge sports story in general.
That’s the equivalent of what’s currently unfolding in Australia, where two of the most prominent AFL commentators are involved in a scandal that seems like it’s drawn from the pages of an afternoon soap opera.
Former Melbourne Demons captain Garry Lyon stepped down from all of his media duties, including host of the popular Footy Show, match commentator on radio, and columnist. The statement released cited a “serious mental health condition” that Lyon has been battling for the last several months. But there’s much more to the story. The statement came after reports were made public that Lyon had been having an affair with the ex-wife of his Footy Show co-host Bill Brownless. Via The Age:
Garry Lyon has put his media commitments on hold and is understood to be battling depression after a deeply personal falling-out with his close friend and Footy Show colleague Billy Brownless.
The long-running friendship has apparently broken down after Brownless reportedly discovered a relationship between his ex-wife, Nicky, and Lyon.
It is believed the former Geelong player and Footy Show funnyman recently confronted Lyon about the situation.
Brownless and Lyon have worked together for at least 15 years. The two families had also been close, with Brownless’ former wife, Nicky, and Lyon’s wife, Melissa, close friends. Brownless is understood to be rocked by the situation, and believes his friendship with Lyon is all but over.
Brownless last year talked publicly about how the breakdown of his marriage impacted him.
“I didn’t see it coming, so that hurt,” he told Fox Footy’s Open Mike.
Brownless, who kicked 441 goals for Geelong during his playing days, has been a prominent figure in the footy media since his playing days, often playing the clown prince. He and Lyon have worked together on The Footy Show for several years. To describe The Footy Show and Lyon and Brownless’ relationship to American sports fans, the Barkley-Smith comparison is a great one because of their closeness on the air and the format of the show. Imagine the irreverence of Inside the NBA turned up to 11 with a lot more swearing and off-color humor.
The news even made it all the way over to American shores, with Andrew Bogut of the Warriors commenting on the scandal:
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/698587696025866240
And in a highly unfortunate Twitter gaffe, The Footy Show posted a picture of Brownless holding a rose wishing fans a Happy Valentines Day. The previously scheduled tweet was then quickly deleted, but not before Bogut could grab a screenshot:
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/698766452292071427
A new report from The Age indicates Brownless believes the affair between Lyon and his ex-wife could have been ongoing for four years. It’s incomprehensible to think what these people must be going through having this affair exposed for an entire country to see play out in public. What a sad, crazy, messed-up story.
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