Sure, I handled myself well on the air that day, but it also allowed Mike to appreciate my skills as a reporter and as it turns out, it was the first of many times that Mike had me on to talk about the Jets. That day, in just a few minutes on the phone, my career hit a new high and I have him to thank for it. That’s because you will never ever hear me say or write a bad thing about the man. Over the years, I’ve either stunned people or made them have an open-mind about the radio icon. Obviously, that is because of Mike’s style on the air and this so-called perception about him. The first thing that I’m always asked when I meet someone is what I think of Mike. What I will do is share my feelings on what Mike has meant to me over the years. I’m not going to get into all of Mike’s accomplishments over the last 30 years because they’ve been chronicled by so many listeners, sports executives, players and media members already. Suffice to say, since then I have had a great relationship with Mike Francesa whose last show on WFAN will be this Friday. I was filling in on a Sunday morning for John Minko doing updates and Mike and I had a great chat about what had happened and I’ll just keep that chat to myself. I never felt, at any point in that interview, that Mike was mad at me and he affirmed that to me a few days later when I saw him in studio. Mike was livid at the Jets for putting out bad information and I was just there as the middle man. I really felt that way then and nothing has changed my mind since then. I chuckled and said that he wasn’t yelling at me. When I came back in the house, Bradley, who was watching the interview on YES, came over to me and said “Daddy, why was that man yelling at you?” I did the interview with him outside in front of my house because my older son Bradley was watching television and my younger son Jared, not even four months old yet, was sleeping. It seemed that everyone in town was listening and they all contacted me to see if I was ok. If you haven’t heard or seen my chat with Mike that day, here it is …Īfter the interview, I was inundated with texts and phone calls about it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Jets played him because they felt it gave them a better chance to win in Miami and that’s exactly what happened. They were obliged to pay him while the legal matter ran it’s course, but there was nothing stopping them from benching him. Mike was not happy with the information that the Jets were putting out there because it was not true that they couldn’t bench Edwards. So I joined Mike on the phone that day and as many of you know by now, it was quite an interesting chat. My understanding was that Mike would only do a spot with if there was breaking Jets news. I was told when I took the job that I would have a weekly spot Jets spot with Richard Neer on Saturday mornings and a midweek spot with Joe and Evan. This would be the first time that I was on with him that season and to be honest, I was both excited and nervous. I could use the information as background and share what he told me but I couldn’t use the audio on the air.Īfter I spoke to a Jets official who had told me that nothing had changed, I called WFAN back and I was ready to go on with Mike. The issue that I had with all of this was not relating to the Jets making this decision, but that I wasn’t allowed to use the audio from the interview with Tannenbaum on any of my reports. ![]() I told Ray to give me five or 10 minutes to call the Jets to see if there was any change in what their stance was.Ī couple of days earlier, the Jets had arranged for each beat reporter to have a one-on-one phone conversation with then general manager Mike Tannenbaum to explain why the team wasn’t going to bench Edwards. It was Ray Martel, Mike Francesa’s producer at WFAN, calling me to let me know that Mike wanted me to come on the show and discuss what was going on. I was home that day, with my two sons, when my cell phone rang. Therefore, on that fateful day, Thursday Sept. The Jets told all beat reporters, including myself, that because it was a pending legal issue there was nothing they could do in terms of benching Edwards for the game. That week, the Jets decided that Edwards would play but not start the Monday night game against the Dolphins in Miami. But just a few weeks into the season, there was more when wide receiver Braylon Edwards was arrested for DUI. It was my first year as the New York Jets beat reporter for WFAN and I had already experienced some drama during training camp with the Darrelle Revis holdout. 24, 2010, because it was a day that continues to define my career as a sports reporter in the New York area and it’s something that I’m still asked about to this day. 15, 2017, will end his 30-year era at WFAN. From the Editor: Peter Schwartz of ESNY remembers the great Mike Francesa who, this Friday, Dec.
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