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Chris Russo Uses 'First Take' Platform to Say He's Seen Enough Jason Kelce

Russo also weighed in on Nick Saban and Pat McAfee.

Kyle Koster

Russo is putting together a memorable First Take performance.
Russo is putting together a memorable First Take performance. /

The Week 2 Monday Night Football game between the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles was apex mountain for Jason Kelce. ESPN jumped at every opportunity to showcase its shiny new analyst with a ridiculous high Q score, as is their right. There was some predictable blowback from those simply not ready for that much Jason Kelce in their lives. Most of those people have moved on with their lives.

But then again most of them are not afforded the opportunity to vent about something that happened 10 days ago on ESPN while appearing on ESPN's biggest debate show. Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is the noted exception, and he used his platform on First Take this morning to re-litigate the issue.

"They put him in the booth in the Philadelphia game against Atlanta," Russo yelled at one point during his media criticism.

Jason Kelce is on a meteoric run right now and ESPN obviously understands that they could have a staple of their NFL coverage for decades to come here if they play their cards right so the Kelce appearances will continue. In the grand scheme of things it's not something for Russo or anyone else to get upset over.

Mad Dog was not done playing the role of ombudsman, though, as he continued his commentary during a hit from Paul Finebaum later in the show. At first he complained about not being able to get Saban on his SiriusXM radio show before reminding the First Take audience that Saban has been compensated handsomely for appearances on McAfee's program.

Russo can do this because he's a legend. More importantly, he can do this because he is doing it in the perfect, lighthearted way. It's the type of stuff sports media enthusiasts live for and in no way is that sad.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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