Chris Canty isn’t ESPN’s most high profile ex-NFL player. But he is one of its most important.
Why?
Because Chris Canty is willing to say “the thing.”
You know “the thing,” which doesn’t only help his radio show, Unsportsmanlike, go viral on a regular basis, but also fill hours of subsequent ESPN programming. Criticizing former Kyle Filipowski for not doing more to avoid injury during a court-storming, blaming Joe Burrow — and not the Bengals’ defense — for Cincinnati’s 0-3 start, calling for the Dallas Cowboys to tank and starting an on-air feud with Stephen A. Smith by referring to one of his takes as “asinine”; they all qualify as “the thing.” And to this point in his tenure as an ESPN Radio host, Canty’s been willing to say it all.
The latest example of the former NFL defensive lineman saying “the thing” came on Thursday, in what marked a relatively slow news day for the NFL season. But that didn’t stop Canty from comparing Aaron Rodgers to a cancer “that has metastasized within the New York Jets organization and I don’t know how they fix it.”
“This guy is like a cancer that has metastasized within the New York Jets organization and I don’t know how they fix it.” @ChrisCanty99 on Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets pic.twitter.com/9M8zyPS2D4
— UNSPORTSMANLIKE Radio (@UnSportsESPN) October 24, 2024
All things considered, this is a pretty tame example of “the thing”; the video clip didn’t particularly go viral and it’s yet to be used as fodder on Get Up or First Take. But make no mistake, those shows’ producers know it’s there if they need it, just as plenty of the 41-year-old’s previous bold takes have been before.
Canty is obviously far from ESPN’s first analyst to dabble in hot takery. In recent years alone, Dan Orlovsky, Kendrick Perkins, Brian Windhorst and even Nick Saban have each shown a propensity for pushing stories forward by turning up the temperature on their analysis, to say nothing of traditional hot take artists like Stephen A. Smith.
That’s not even to say any of this is a bad thing; I’ve long praised Windhorst as one of ESPN’s most valuable talents thanks in part to his willingness to have strong opinions. But when it comes to ESPN’s version of the Human Centipede, in which analysts give takes, which then become fodder for other analysts to issue takes about those takes, it’s been impossible not to notice Canty’s recent rise.
Curiously, Canty’s been a part of ESPN Radio’s national lineup since 2021, but it wasn’t until this past year that he truly gained prominence at the Worldwide Leader. While his debate style hasn’t changed — his boldness is one of the biggest reasons for his rapid rise — what has changed is his placement in ESPN’s lineup.
After previously co-hosting ESPN Radio’s afternoon drive slot, ESPN formed Unsportsmanlike in 2023 to replace the previous morning show featuring Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams and Max Kellerman. Strategically or not, Unsportsmanlike‘s timeslot — and strong social media presence — helps drive stories forward for the rest of ESPN’s programming (television and otherwise), with Canty’s bold stances often being its primary offering.
While such takes can often range from daring to outright absurd, the reality is that as long as he’s giving the rest of ESPN’s shows something to potentially talk about, he’s doing his job. And ultimately, that makes him a valuable commodity at the Worldwide Leader, which has never been shy to look within itself to sustain — and even create — its news cycles.
