We’re only at six weeks into the NFL season, but I think we already have our winner for "Meltdown of the Year": Arizona Cardinals coach Denny Green. Green, whom I call "The Nutty Professor" went off at his press conference after his team choked away their 20 point lead in front of the whole country on Monday Night Football. While we were waiting to get on stage for our gig we were watching the game in disbelief, wondering whether the Bears were that good, or if the Cardinals were that bad.
Then after the game came the most classic melt-down ever, check it out (Note: there is some profanity, as any classic tirade should include):
I caught the melt-down on the NFL Network, when they were seemingly watching it live. Watching the reaction of the NFL Network hosts clearly illustrated my perception that the network is essentially the State Television of the NFL: While the 24-hour coverage of football greatly appeals to me, I struggle with the commentators on the Network because they won’t ever criticize a sport or a team. I don’t think that commentators need to be negative to be credible, but I do think they need to be honest. Watching the Network commentators back-pedal their way out of Denny Green’s meltdown with excuses validated my beliefs.
If you turn the channel over to ESPN the commentators weren’t afraid to pull their punches on Green and what they thought of the Cardinals. I was watching Rome is Burning the next day and they were joking about how Green was like the Cardinals and didn’t see his tirade through to the end – he should have thrown the podium instead of just banging it. The NFL Network is good if you want to see recaps and coverage of every NFL team, but if you want honesty you’re going to have to change your channel.
Watching Green last night was pretty, but does it top Jim Mora’s classic meltdown? You decide.