Ed Note: This post appears via Bloguin’s college football site Crystal Ball Run.
Earlier this year Jim Ross, AKA Good Ol JR, joined Fox Sports. First he did so in a writing capacity but he also took a shot at boxing announcing. With Fox beefing up on their college football team with the addition of the likes of Tim Brando, Bruce Feldman and Stuart Mandel, Fox now has the ability to really start sprucing up their college football coverage.
Jim Ross might seem like an outside of the box person but he has a football background as he spent some time doing play-by-play for the Atlanta Falcons radio broadcasts and he also did some XFL broadcasts.
Here’s what he had to say when the Chicago Tribune asked him about his XFL experience…
You called football games with Dick Butkus for WWE’s short-lived XFL. What do you remember about working with the Bears legend?
A: Dick would admit he’s not a professional broadcaster, and I’ll admit I’m not a trained and experienced football broadcaster, even though I’ve called some Atlanta Falcons games. We both kind of were feeling our way through the whole thing and having a lot of fun in the process. Dick was very outspoken. You didn’t have to wonder what was on his mind. He was very willing to share it with you. But I had a blast with him.
Right now, Ross is in a spot in his career where he is looking to do different things. In addition to the writing he’s done for Fox and the boxing commentary, he also is doing one-man shows as well as hosting a podcast in which he has no problem talking about college football as he did when former Georgia Bulldogs defensive lineman Bill Goldberg was his guest.
They could use him in studio as an analyst or as someone who does interviews or special assignments. If they found a role for Clay Travis, it can’t be too hard to find a role for him.
They could even just stick him out there as the third man in a three man booth and see what happens. Earlier this week Kokatu posted a video titled “Games are way better with wrestling commentary” in which it put JRs commentary on top of video games.
That got me thinking, wouldn’t college football be better with Jim Ross? Apparently some people think the same way, just check out these clips from Youtube…
Whether he’s used in a serious capacity or as a special attraction of sorts, Jim Ross in college football could be fun and it’s worth a shot for Fox to try to differentiate themselves from their competition.
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About Kevin Causey
Dry humorist, craft beer enthusiast, occasionally unbiased SEC fan, UGA alumni, contributor for The Comeback.