1. If you listened to last week’s SI Media Podcast with Bryan Curtis of The Ringer, you heard us talk about the ridiculousness of Radio Row at the Super Bowl. And on this week’s SI Media Podcast with Boomer Esiason (see below), we talked about the uselessness of Radio Row; athletes just do boring interviews and plug products.
Well, I stand corrected. Athletes hawking products on Radio Row isn’t completely useless. And we have Pat McAfee to thank for that.
On his Wednesday SiriusXM show, McAfee was interviewing former NFL quarterback Carson Palmer, who was there to promote some CBD cream. McAfee, who is always up for going the extra mile and providing good entertainment, decided to lather his arms, shoulders and elbows with the cream. And because McAfee is McAfee, he took things a step further, thanks to some encouragement from cohost A.J. Hawk, and rubbed the cream all over his face.
The buildup was hilarious.
Palmer warned McAfee he had put too much cream on when he was still only at his arms, but after that, McAfee rubbed the cream on his face.
Within 10 seconds, McAfee could barely open his eyes. Palmer then told McAfee the cream wasn’t for the face and that it was for muscles, but it was too late. The pain kept building and McAfee hilariously struggled while trying to keep the segment going.
“I’m tearing. This is a bad deal.”
Seconds later, McAfee’s face was covered in tears.
“It’s really taken over my entire head. I should not have put it on my face. What was I doing?”
What he was doing was making great radio. Take a look.
2. A brand-new SI Media Podcast dropped this morning, and it features an interview with Bengals legend Boomer Esiason.
The NFL Today panelist and WFAN radio host talks about his former franchise went from NFL laughingstock to Super Bowl participant, what makes Joe Burrow so special and the best moments in Bengals history.
Esiason also tells what happened during that AFC title game's halftime show when the CBS panel was drowned out by a concert, reveals whether Aaron Rodgers ever reached out to him after a recent controversy and talks about his long career in sports media, which includes calling 19 Super Bowls on radio, working with Al Michaels on Monday Night Football and doing morning drive radio for nearly 15 years.
Following Esiason is the weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment with Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York. This week's segment features a conversation about a variety of Super Bowl prop bets that we like, Super Bowl party food and reviews for a bunch of news shows we recently watched.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
3. ESPN announced Wednesday that Peyton and Eli Manning have extended their deal to do the ManningCast for an extra year.
The most notable thing about this news is that this should end any speculation about Peyton ever doing the traditional analyst role for a 17-game season. If ESPN ever decided to move on from Louis Riddick and Brian Griese as Monday Night Football analysts, Peyton is not an option. It will be interesting to see if ESPN makes a run at Tom Brady if it wants to go in another direction with the MNF booth.
4. There was a quick moment on Twitter this morning when people thought Tony Khan, who owns AEW, was going to run for Congress. Khan shot down the rumors with a tweet that any old-school wrestling fan would appreciate.
5. With Major League Baseball announcing that owners have agreed to a universal DH, we need to remember the greatest all-time hitting performance from a pitcher.
6. Here's ESPN's Adam Schefter explaining how the Tom Brady retirement scoop came about.
