In the lore of Mike Francesa, the day he fell asleep on the air in 2012 while doing a spot with Yankees reporter Sweeny Murti is legend. If you’ve never seen it, here’s the clip of the Sports Pope dozing off:
Well, TMZ caught up with Francesa recently. Interestingly, it was next to a falafel truck. The TMZ guy asked Francesa about the infamous nod-off and noted that “eet was dat won time!”
Then he explained how he fell asleep.
“I actually had my son in the hospital all night, the night before with an asthma attack, so I hadn’t been to sleep. So my wife had told me to take a nap that day before I did the show … would have been a smart idea. But that tape does follow me around. I think it was on national TV like four nights in a row.”
Of course, there was the issue of him possibly falling asleep again two years later, but that didn’t catch fire as much as the first time did.
At least Francesa can laugh about it now.
About Ken Fang
Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.
He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.
Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.