Al Michaels may have lost a few ticks on his fastball, but you can still count on him to tell it like it is, as he did Thursday night with Fireman Ed.
Fireman Ed Anzalone wasn’t the ringleader Jets fans asked for, he was the ringleader the Jets put on their fans. The Jets put him on the big screen at Giants Stadium in 1986 and he stayed until 2012, when Anzalone dramatically walked away from his self-assumed superfan responsibilities. He’s been back for over a decade now, but while most national broadcasters forgot about his hiatus, Michaels did not.
“Fireman Ed has been here for years, took a brief respite a few years ago after the butt fumble game when he said, ‘I’m not coming back.’ But he did.” pic.twitter.com/BfqUCm9yDz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 20, 2024
“This crowd is pumped up as I can remember before a Jets game,” Michaels said as the camera panned to Anzalone before the Thursday Night Football kickoff on Amazon Prime. “Fireman Ed has been here for years, took a brief respite a few years ago after the butt fumble game when he said, ‘I’m not coming back.’ But he did.”
“And there he is again leading J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!” Michaels added with a chuckle.
Maybe the chuckle was unrelated, but it was almost like Michaels was laughing at the drama surrounding Fireman Ed after calling out his near three-year hiatus.
As Michaels noted, Fireman Ed voluntarily walked away from his superfan title in 2012 during the infamous Butt Fumble game. Anzalone was wearing a Sanchez jersey that night and said the ridicule was too tough to take, forcing him to leave at halftime while vowing to never return. If he was harassed that night, shame on those fans. But Anzalone relished the fame for decades, even requesting appearance fees from local sports radio shows and he chose to walk away from it.
Less than three years later, he was back. Oh joy. Fireman Ed gets ribbed for once being a Dolphins fan, which I think is unfair. Let him root for whoever he wants to. Sports fandom shouldn’t be marred by rules. But he’s a character often celebrated by national broadcasts attempting to offer New York flair, more than he is a ringleader praised by Jets fans. Kudos to Michaels for recognizing the truth.
