The Paul Finebaum Show has long had a history of outrageous moments, often courtesy of its callers. They’ve become such an iconic part of the show that some of the callers have even gained fame and notoriety.
Tammy. Darriel from Columbus, Georgia. You know the names by now.
Between Nick Saban’s retirement and Friday’s news that the Alabama Crimson Tide had hired former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer to replace him, it’s no surprise that Friday’s show featured several memorable call-ins.
At one point during the show, Finebaum engaged in an on-air tussle with “John from St. Louis,” who decided today was the perfect day to take up for former President Richard Nixon.
Suffice it to say, Finebaum wasn’t having any of it.
"He's a criminal. He resigned in disgrace. You need to accept that. It is 2024." – Finebaum lecturing a man harboring Richard Nixon conspiracy theories pic.twitter.com/R0eLxIsXV1
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 12, 2024
“John From St. Louis” argued that the Washington Post and New York Times had it in for Nixon and just wanted to sell some papers. Finebaum did his best to humor him but could only go so far.
“John, Richard Nixon was a crook. He would have gone to jail had Gerald Ford not pardoned him,” Finebaum argued. “He resigned in disgrace. You need to accept that. It is 2024, this happened in 1974. It has been fifty years, John, you need to go see a therapist about your hang-up with Richard Nixon.”
The nonsense would then continue around an ongoing discourse about “Yankees” and their influence on the Alabama football program. In response to comments from a previous caller, Johnny B. from Alabama added some context around both Saban and DeBoer.
"West Virginia is where Saban is from and they fought with the Union. Saban is a Yankee and here we done hired another Yankee."
Finebaum callers never disappoint… pic.twitter.com/yEiWIW9nqu
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 12, 2024
“West Virginia is where Saban is from and they fought with the Union,” said Johnny B. “Saban is a Yankee and here we done hired another Yankee.”
To be fair, Johnny is a fan of the DeBoer hire, he just wanted to get the “facts” straight.
Finebaum could only nod and move on to the next call. Just another day in Paul’s wild SEC life.