Tony Siragusa Credit: Fox Sports
By Matt Yoder on

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Tony Siragusa was one of the great characters in recent NFL history.

The legendary Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle was best known as the man in the middle, anchoring one of the best units in NFL history. After his playing career ended, he joined the NFL on Fox in a unique role as a sideline analyst. He also became a pop culture figure, with plenty of advertisements and even an acting role.

For much of his career with NFL on Fox, he was paired with Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston in the broadcast booth. The team, affectionately known as “Kenny, Moose, and Goose,” worked together for several years as the network’s #2 announcing team. While Johnston provided traditional analysis in the booth, Siragusa offered a mix of humor, interviews, and sideline commentary.

In an interview with Ari Meirov, Albert reflected on his time with Siragusa, paying tribute to the analyst who passed away in 2022 at the young age of 55.

“In 2007, Fox decided to pair us together. We were known as ‘Kenny, Moose, and Goose.’ Goose always liked to have fun. He lived life to his fullest, and we lost him way too early. But he really put about 100 years into his 55. Every city we would go to, he would want to do something fun. But on the air, like you said, he was ahead of his time,” Albert said.

“He was down on the field, but he was not a sideline reporter. His mic was open the entire time. He wasn’t just there to give an injury report or a quick story. He was analyzing the game. Some of the things he would notice were just incredible. And that came from years and years of studying film at such a high level. It was amazing that it worked so well without us talking over each other on the games, because Daryl and I were up in the booth. Goose is down on the field a couple hundred feet away… they just had a great chemistry with one another. It was just special.”

It is fair to say that Tony Siragusa may not have been everyone’s cup of tea as an analyst back in the day. He stood alone not just in his personality, but in how he was used on the telecasts. It was new. It was different. And it was a time when networks were beginning to experiment more and more with different ways to do football games.

Siragusa did pave the way for more on-field analysis. We’ve seen it work in some ways; the NHL now routinely uses analysts between the benches. In other cases, it hasn’t quite clicked, like the BoogerMobile.

But it’s also fair to say that the way Fox utilized Siragusa helped pave the way for more variety in football broadcasting. He would have been perfect for altcasts today. Without Tony Siragusa, would there be room for someone like Pat McAfee in sports media today?

About Matt Yoder

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