Noah Eagle awkwardly embodies the importance of phrasing: ‘I go with the finger method’

Noah Eagle may not be ashamed to admit he likes the finger method, but everyone listening to his admission was probably a little ashamed by his phrasing.

Midway through the fourth quarter of the Chargers-Saints preseason game on Sunday, New Orleans lined up for a field goal, looking to extend their 19-10 lead. Just before the ball was snapped, Chargers safety Tyler Baker-Williams started sprinting toward the sideline, believing they had too many players on the field. Turns out the Chargers correctly had 11 players on the field, but Baker-Williams was flagged for an offsides penalty.

As the teams reset to run the play again, CBS Los Angeles cameras showed Baker-Williams standing on the field pointing to and counting each of his teammates to ensure he didn’t make the same mistake, which prompted play-by-play voice Noah Eagle to get a little too comfortable with the audience.

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I go with the finger method myself.”

PHRASING! pic.twitter.com/9IZY9RTdu3

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 21, 2023

“Baker-Williams is counting now,” Eagle said with a chuckle. “He’s going with the old method. I’m not ashamed to admit, that I go with the finger method myself.”

What was Eagle admitting he uses the finger method for? We can only assume Eagle meant he uses his fingers for mathematical purposes. Or maybe he’s like Nomar Garciaparra and just really likes finger guns. But without that detail, it opened the door for wilder minds to wonder.

“I heard that,” analyst Dan Fouts chimed in about his broadcast partner, claiming to have already known Eagle likes the finger method, which prompted a laugh from the booth.

Simply clarifying that he uses the finger-pointing or finger-counting method would have cleaned this right up, but it’s preseason for broadcasters too.

[CBS Los Angeles]