anybody else find ESPN's John Clayton oddly out of place . . .

[OneBlueSky]

as an NFL analyst? . . . somehow he just doesn't compute in the rough, tough world of pro football . . .

even granting that he knows his stuff, couldn't they at least get him a decent haircut and teach him how to dress? . . .

[tmooses]

1. i never thought Cosell fit in a football booth. I think they throw in the

accountant types to represent the "sports geek" image.

[LisaM]

2. He's a newspaper writer I think

in Tacoma? I think he might write for the Tacoma News Tribune, which is the ONLY decent writing of the mainstream papers around here.

[NorCalDem]

3. Clayton is like Gammons though

what he says, more often than not, turns out to be true. A football genius trapped in the body of a chess-team member :D

[KitchenWitch]

4. Very true

I love it when John Clayton hands Sean Salisbury his ass.

I also LOVE Peter Gammons.

[aaronbees]

7. Totally...

I'm not much of a football fan, but I'll usually perk up when he talks about it because he's interesting and much more insightful than the usual blabberheads.

[nickgutierrez]

5. I find him out of place on ESPN

He isn't loud, obnoxious, OR clueless. I don't know what he's doing there...

[akarnitz]

9. Loud and obnoxious gets you far in Bristol.

BOO-YAH!!!!

Kenny Mayne seems to have been put on the back burner. And, though we're better off with him on "Countdown", I miss Keith Olberman(Master of the Pan-Flute).:rofl:

[nickgutierrez]

10. Olbermann was cool on ESPN, but...

...I like him right where he is right now. :)

[Robeson]

6. I think he knows what he's talking about, even though....

...he looks like Wally Cox. Which goes to show, don't judge a book by its cover. It is said that Wally Cox was somewhat of a ladies man, so who'd thunk?

[akarnitz]

8. Clayton's well connected

to a lot guys who look just like him- NFL GM's. They're not all that telegenic either.

Clayton's a crossover from the print medium, and like a gaggle of others(Kornheiser, Wilbon, Peter King, Mitch Albom included) he's not rough, tough and buff. You don't need to bench press 400 lbs. to type.

I can only come up with two crossover sports journalists who were(are?) athletes- Rick Telander and Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman.

I like Clayton. He looks like me. Except he's older, pastier and has less hair. ;)