If anyone thought Joe Buck might regret his decision to leave Fox after nearly three decades with the network, check his delight during this week’s Monday Night Football open.
As Buck welcomed viewers to ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast of the 5-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 4-8 New Orleans Saints, not only did he sound like someone who was content with his new job, he sounded like the happiest person on Earth.
Joe Buck gotta be drunk pic.twitter.com/WDJz5PlKiP
— sports announcers with no context (@nocontxtanncr) December 6, 2022
“The weather is beautiful in Tampa, Florida,” Buck said with an endearing amount of enthusiasm. “It’s Week 13, good matchup in the NFC South. It’s DECCCEMBER! Can you believe it? Already December! Bucs and Saints, coming up!”
ESPN returned from their commercial break and so did Buck’s fervor, as the renowned play-by-play voice fawned over watching Tom Brady run onto the field.
“There he is. All eyes on 12. He’s ready to go. Look, he’s going to prove it!” Buck exclaimed before firing off his best Howard Dean impression. “Yaaaaaah! Let’s, let’s go! I can’t say one, yeah, I can’t say one of those words,” he continued, alluding to Brady dropping an f-bomb.
Usually, Buck is someone who doesn’t let his emotions bleed into a broadcast. But for whatever reason, he couldn’t help himself Monday night. Was Buck just giddy about the month of December? Was he really that excited to be in Florida and staring at Tom Brady on a Monday night? Or is the 53-year-old broadcaster still feeding off the thrill of being at ESPN, making more money for less work than what he was doing with Fox?
Good for Buck. It’s nice to see that he’s happy after making such a significant career jump. Surely, the reported $60-75 million that he’s earning from ESPN helps the transition, but money isn’t everything. I can’t imagine Russell Wilson is as thrilled about his offseason career choice.
[ESPN, via Sports Announcers with No Context on Twitter]
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com