Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner. Photo Credit: Rich Eisen on X. Photo Credit: Rich Eisen on X
NFLBy Arthur Weinstein on

Rich Eisen has never been shy about sharing his love for the New York Jets, and that led some fans to question why the veteran announcer worked play-by-play for the Jets’ game against the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday.

Eisen is far too much of a professional to go down the homerism path, and his calls generally seemed to be straight down the middle of the fairway. He even got in a dig at the Jets and their fans early in the game as the team struggled. He dropped a pun about the UK band Oasis and noted, “If the Jets don’t score soon, some of their fans who flew all the way over here are going to look back in anger at their travel bill.”


Eisen had another fun moment late in the third quarter, when he said the quarter had ended one play early.


Yet some social media users questioned the NFL Network’s decision to stick Eisen on the Jets game, given his fandom. It’s worth noting many of those were Vikings fans and even reporters, so … there was some bias there.

Adam Patrick, a FanSided editor for The Viking Age, posted on X, “Really nice of NFL Network to let the Jets have a home broadcast today with Rich Eisen calling the game.”


However, even some Jets media had questions.

Many fans commented on the optics of letting Eisen call the game.

Other fans enjoyed seeing Eisen suffer as the Jets struggled early.

Networks usually give these broadcaster-game pairings some consideration as to whether, for example, a recently retired player or coach is calling his former team’s game. Whether fair or not, some fans wished the NFL Network had given this decision more thought.

[NFL Network, Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Rich Eisen on X]

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.

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