Jeff Saturday’s current day job involves getting zinged by Chris Russo on live television.
His former? Well, he was the interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and let’s just say it was a bit of a learning curve for the former All-Pro center turned ESPN personality. Saturday (and his colleagues) can look back at its absurdity now and share a few laughs.
Amid his ESPN renaissance, the ‘Mad Dog’ took up for Saturday, defending him against what he deemed a hypocritical Bill Cowher. Russo didn’t want to hear that Saturday wasn’t qualified to be an NFL head coach despite never coaching above high school. And he especially didn’t want it to hear it from Cowher.
So, if anyone is going to take a jab at Saturday’s coaching career, it’s going to be Russo.
And that’s exactly what he did during the beginning of Wednesday’s “What Are You Mad About Segment?” on First Take. Russo thought about making the first portion of the segment about Todd Bowles because he thought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach should’ve gone for two at the end of regulation in a 30-24 loss to the Kanas City Chiefs.
With 30 seconds left, Bowles called a timeout, even with his team within striking distance. He then kicked the extra point, which allowed the Chiefs to win overtime. Troy Aikman and perhaps Russo have heavily criticized that decision, though the Mad Dog chose to go after Nick Sirianni instead.
“I thought about going to Todd Bowles because they should’ve gone for two against Kansas City on Monday night,” said Russo. “That’s the sort of thing Saturday did a couple of years ago with the Colts. “I thought about that one, but I couldn’t resist.”
He couldn’t resist zinging Saturday, either.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.