Wednesday, October 16, isn’t Festivus, but it might as well be for Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who aired his grievances with many sports media figures, including but not limited to Tony Romo, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
Russo has already had enough of “our little pal,” Romo, over a Franco Harris blunder earlier this calendar year. And he furthered some of that frustration with the NFL on CBS analyst knowledge or lack thereof of the sport when Romo proclaimed that Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was the top-10 coach of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKcljGsaM_c
“I’m watching the Ravens and the Commanders on Sunday afternoon,” said Russo on Wednesday’s First Take. “And he’s making $20 million a year. Could at least Tony Romo have a little sense of history when he’s doing a ballgame on CBS? Harbaugh must’ve taken him out to dinner on Friday night. During the game, he says — I swear to God, I couldn’t believe it — that John Harbaugh is one of the top-10 coaches, without a doubt, in the history of pro football.
“What? Have you heard of Don Shula? Have you heard of Chuck Knoll? Have you heard of Andy Reid? Have you heard of Bill Belichick? Have you heard of Weeb Ewbank? Have you heard of Vince Lombardi?!?! Have you heard of Paul Brown? Have you heard of Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs? You want me to contiune? Please…he’s getting $17 million a year. At Northern Illinois, did he read a football book for crying out loud? Did he ever watch (Howard) Cosell do a Monday night game with Shula coaching against Pittsburgh?
“I mean, how in the world can you go on TV and ruin my Sunday afternoon?… And Jim’s too polite; Nantz, he didn’t correct him. Tony, come back to me, please. I understand that you’re a big quarterback in the NFL. I mean, Chan Gailey’s better than John Harbaugh for crying out loud.”
If Romo doesn’t know his football history, Russo believes Bill Belichick is forgetting his own.
“Did anybody ever see a Bill Belichick media postgame after a Patriot loss? When he gave you three-second answers, he mumbled and was an absolute grouch,” said Russo. “And now Bill Belichick, I mean, he’s Bill Maher… He’s all over the place… And then he comes out, and he kills Woody Johnson this week about the Jets? Hey, Bill, calm down… you bailed on the Jets, and so now you kill Woody Johnson?
“Bill Belichick didn’t say a word to anybody forever and ever and ever, and now he loves the media. He’s doing commercials with Bryson DeChambeau for crying out loud. I mean enough of Bill Belichick. You know what? Go look at film and get ready for your next coaching job — if you get one — after the offseason. I am tired of Bill Belichick knocking everybody in the world and going all over the place on media outlets. Enough; I’ve had enough of Belichick.”
Russo, a traditionalist when it comes to sports broadcasts, has long complained about Romo’s unorthodox style in the booth. And while he may not want to learn from Romo, he’d gladly offer the NFL on CBS analyst a history lesson on football’s coaching greats.
As for Belichick, Russo seems equally eager to teach the Patriots coach a thing or two about humility.
