I don't know if there's ever been an NFL TV commentator as universally panned as Emmitt Smith on ESPN. Sure, there have been commentators who have received more criticism -- Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Miller -- but that's because they had higher profiles than Smith. Limbaugh and Miller had their share of defenders; I know of no one who enjoys Smith's work on ESPN.But Michael McCarthy of USA Today reports that ESPN thinks Smith is getting better.
I have no idea how hard Smith is working, but the fact is, he still comes across as unprepared and ignorant of basic information about the teams and players he's supposed to be analyzing. Sure, forgetting names can happen to anybody, but when was the last time it happened to Tom Jackson or Ron Jaworski? Those two ex-players always come across as though they take studying the teams they'll talk about just as seriously as they took studying film when they were active players. If Smith can't do that, he's in the wrong profession.Smith fumbled for words during ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. At one point, he couldn't remember the name of New England Patriots running back Sammy Morris - so he dropped his eyes from the camera to check his notes. The director, either in sympathy or alarm, pulled back to a wide shot from a close-up.
Forgetting names "can happen to anybody," says Stephanie Druley, ESPN's senior coordinating producer for NFL shows.
Smith's last TV splash was winning Dancing With the Stars on sister network ABC. Despite calls for ESPN to drop Smith by bloggers like ProFootballTalk.com, Druley says it's "premature" to consider changes. "He's getting better every week. He's working very hard," she says.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-08-2007 @ 2:36PM
Mike said...
Smith has to be able to remember names. A good commentator can pull out all sorts of facts and remember a lot of stuff. Sammy Morris - who doesn't know Sammy right now?!
Real sports fans owe it to themselves to join RootZoo.
http://www.rootzoo.com
.
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10-08-2007 @ 2:49PM
hugh mcsnatchercraft said...
overrated RB. overrated potential as an announcer. He doesnt have Dallas' line opening up holes for him on the air.
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10-08-2007 @ 3:07PM
carlosmartir said...
Yes, there has been a worse transition: Tim Hardaway
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10-08-2007 @ 6:32PM
danny said...
Of course he's getting better can't get any worse. I didn't know who Sammy Morris was until I looked it up, but I'm a casual at best fan of the National Felons League and I'm not paid big bucks to know.
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12-13-2007 @ 3:21PM
Darrell said...
Emmitt Smith is the best running back of all time. In the game of Football it is put up are shut up and Emmitt delivered in every way. His last season at Arizona with a crappy line and missing 3 games due to injury still almost a 1,000 yards rushing. Now as for the abilities on ESPN, I could care less, I switched from the NFL network to ESPN because of him.
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