Mike Greenberg has been doing this for 34 years. From his first blessing radio station in 1990 to now hosting a TV show get up and Sunday NFL Countdown, He has become a major figure in sports media.
He also still does regular ESPN Radio, where his show #greenny Covers everything in the moving solar system. Did you first encounter him on the radio during the legendary period? Mike and Mike Mike Greenberg is one of the most prolific sports media figures of his generation. in a recent conversation Qhe reflects on a career that has gone through many changes, but as sports media has shifted from traditional news to endless screaming, one thing that has remained the same is Greene.
GQ: Can we start with your beloved Jets? How do you feel about them?
Mike Greenberg: It’s a league week in and week out [before losing 10-9 to the Broncos] I’ll tell you, “I thought the Jets looked great. I thought Rodgers looked better than I actually hoped he would at his age coming back from injury and they seemed to have turned some things around and I really Of course, we are moving in the right direction. [Sunday] It’s a major setback. What I’m saying is that the Jets are trying to do something that’s nearly impossible to do, which is to truly be a lightning in a bottle in football. Not that it never happens, but when these things do, it’s certainly an anomaly in the sports world. So I think they’ve started with weakness. They went out and bought Aaron Rodgers because the team was completely incompetent at drafting and developing a quarterback.
Therefore, they have to hand over the entire team to a quarterback who is now 40 years old and is definitely the best player on the team. He is their only leader. I’m still hopeful, but not optimistic. That’s probably the best way I can describe my emotions. It would take something close to a miracle to work, and it seems like miracles will happen, but most people won’t get rich betting on miracles.
Well, the other interesting part about this situation is that they already tried it a few years ago with Brett Favre and as we all know, that didn’t work either. I guess it depends on how you grade it and whether there’s a curve associated with the Jets. But are you feeling a sense of déjà vu now?
I think that season is largely forgotten. That’s a very good team, and when Favre is healthy, they’re about to do something very special. They beat New England on Thursday night in back-to-back weeks and then beat Tennessee, the best team in the league at the time. You talk to some of the guys on that team, like Damian Woody and some of the other guys, they’ll tell you they feel like they’re the best team in the NFL. Then Favre got injured and because of his triathlon, he wouldn’t come out, but his arm was hanging on by a thread.
They ended up missing the playoffs on the final day of the season, and of all teams, Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins. Eric Mangini was fired. But that led to them hiring Rex Ryan. That team was so good that they played in the AFC Champions League the next two years. So that was a really good team. I think Favre’s season is largely misremembered because it ended badly. Rodgers now, well, I was going to say I think he has more left in him than Favre did at the time, but I guess I can’t really say that. There are certainly similarities between the two situations. But that’s an experienced team. This is a very young team. The veterinary team has great coaches. This team is poorly coached.
So do you blame a lot of the blame for the Jets’ current situation on the coaches? Or the front desk? How do you slice it?
I think there is only one common thread that goes back to the beginning of this century and this futility. As you know, the Jets have the longest streak of playoff absences among the four major sports. The only person there every day is the owner. When a team performs poorly, you can blame the coach or you can blame the players. But when a organize If it’s not good, you have to look up. I think this is the answer.
I’ve been a fan and football observer long enough that I don’t really need anyone to tell me how good or bad they might be, like many fans who have been around for a long time. You can usually see these things happening to some extent. Looking at the history of the Jets, I think it’s true that a lot of times the best thing you predict for them is when things go completely wrong.
At this point you have 34 years of experience in sports media. With these experiences, how do you think your attitude as a fan has evolved?
Almost everything I do now is seen through the prism of how I approach things in broadcast. I can tell you, when I first came to ESPN, you could give me any money you wanted and I would never admit which teams I supported because I was sure it would be inappropriate. I think that was the generally accepted way of doing things at the time. when we launch Mike and MikeI try to stick to that. I admit I’m a fan of the Jets and a few other teams, but I don’t talk about it too much. And then when I started thinking about this, I realized, why do people listen?
if you are listening Mike and Mike that time of the morning, or you were watching get up Now or whatever happens, you’re probably doing this because you’re a fan. You’re passionate about this stuff and that’s something we have in common. So why should I hide it from you? What’s the real purpose? As long as I can properly analyze what’s going on, there’s no reason why I need to keep my fandom a secret. I was severely criticized for it in the beginning. Many people wrote that you can’t do this, it’s unprofessional, etc.
