Tom Jackson, Just SHUT UP!
It’s been years since anyone cared or took Tom Jackson and Chris Berman seriously. There was a time when they were actually liked and respected and people looked forward to watching and listening to them break down all the action of the day’s games. Boy was that a long time ago. They have long moved past useful, relevant, and even comprehensible, but it is clear now that Tom Jackson has completely lost his mind.
I’m sure you have all seen the Bart Scott post-game interview oh… maybe 30-40 times by now. It’s epic, why not, right? As you know, the rant by Scott was at least, in part, initiated by ESPN’s Tom Jackson. Scott begins the rant by specifically calling out Jackson for “disrespecting” him and the Jets. Why? In the pre-game show that day, Jackson predicted the Jets to lose 30-10. No big deal, right? Nearly everyone thought the Patriots, who looked previously unstoppable, would knock off the Jets.
But after being called out by Bart Scott, Jackson went on ESPN’s Mike and Mike radio show the very next morning. You would think that an “analyst” who takes himself so seriously and honestly believes that he’s an important and influential figure in the NFL and in the media, would have the courage to stand by his predictions, right?
Wrong. And I’m sure everyone has heard this part, but it leads up to the most ridiculous part of this story. So, Jackson did a complete 180 that next day on the radio saying that “he certainly thought the Jets might win” and that his pick was a “premeditated move in a psychological game to put the Jets in a bunker mentality of us against the world.”
Seriously, Tom? You were DEAD WRONG on your prediction, which I believe actually genuinely upsets you because you truly believe you know what you’re talking about and Bart Scott called you out on national TV and on one of the most epic, viral videos of recent memory. So this caused you to immediately backtrack and try to say that your predictions were a “premeditated” ploy to try to fire up the Jets? Puhleeze!
I would love to hear what Keyshawn Johnson (who picked the Jets to win) and Chris Carter were saying and thinking after this asshat went on the radio and said this! Those picks are discussed in production meetings before hand and IF those comments by Jackson were premeditated, everyone on the set would’ve known about it. And IF Jackson lied the next day to try to cover up for his idiocy, then every single person on set would know that as well. Jackson has long lost his credibility if you ask most people, but this was the nail in the coffin.
And if that weren’t bad enough, on another interview Tuesday, Jackson did yet another 180. During this interview he relented and said that he really thought the Patriots would win big and “thought it could have been worse”.
He also went on to add that he’s “not arrogant enough to think that I can affect the outcomes.”
“I was shocked and stunned by Bart’s comments, that they were directed at me. So in an effort to make an excuse for the comments, I made comments I shouldn’t have.”
Wow! Tom Jackson literally felt so stupid, impotent, embarrassed, and useless that his prediction was wrong and he was called out by Scott that he went on air the next morning and blatantly lied about a “premeditated psychological game”! Seriously!? It was a PREDICTION! No one cares what you think despite what Bart Scott said.
Yes, a lot of people watch that network and that pre-game show, including players. But it goes on to show just how batshit crazy “Tommy” really is that he thinks that people care that much that he would need to blatantly lie like that!
So going forward, every time he guesses right on his predictions, he’s a football genius. And every time he guesses wrong, he was just trying to pump up the other team to get them ready to play. After all, he’s SO influential that he can actually affect the outcome of the games!
“Tommy”… JUST SHUT UP!
But this is nothing new on this network. For years, the hacks on College Gameday have done this type of thing. Herbstreit and Corso have pulled this unprofessional crap multiple times where they “pick against a team just to get them ready to play”. Those guys are equally delusional enough to think that they influence the game and affect the outcome.
My guees is that someone got to Tom Jackson, knowing that he went on air on Monday and flat out lied to everyone and told him that he needed to come clean. That’s fine, but the damage was already done. For the 4 people left in the world who actually take him, Berman, and that network seriously, this just about blew any chance at professionalism, credibility, and ethics.
I honestly cannot believe that he was legitimately upset enough by Scott’s comments that he found it necessary to go on air the next day and lie about his motives for his predictions. It’s a damn prediction! A billion people make them each week and half of those people are wrong, on average! So what!?
He actually takes himself so seriously that he couldn’t handle the world knowing that he was dead ass wrong on a prediction. He actually takes himself so seriously that after being called out for being wrong that he felt the need to make up an entire story to justify his prediction! And he actually takes himself so seriously that he then said the very next day that made the whole thing up and that he was only doing it because he was so shocked that a player would directly single him out!
If he was so upset because a player called him out and felt disrespected by him and therefore my not respect him, he did NOTHING to help his cause. If he was that upset because a player might think less of him, what’s he going to do now that NO ONE respects him or takes him seriously, including NFL players and the guys on the set with him!? I can’t wait to hear what this lunatic says tomorrow on the show!
Tom Jackson… JUST…. SHUT….. UP!!!
