During the first quarter of Saturday afternoon’s MAC matchup between Eastern Michigan and Toledo, EMU kicker Paul Fricano attempted a long, 50-yard field goal with his team down 3-0.
Fricano’s kick sailed well right, an unambiguous miss that was clear to everyone in the stadium except for CBS Sports Network color commentator (and former NFL kicker) Jay Feely. As the errant kick hit the back net, the play-by-play man recognized that it had missed, but Feeley almost deliriously shouted, “Off the crossbar!” then added, “He just barely had enough, but he knocked it through. That’s a big kick for Paulie Fricano. Eastern Michigan answers! 3-3.”
The whole thing was almost surreal, as if Feely were watching a different game from the rest of us.
The sensible explanation here is that Feely was not watching the monitor in front of him but was instead looking straight onto the field from the press box, which gave him a poor angle on the kick. He saw the depth but not the accuracy (or lack thereof).
Feely acknowledged his mistake after the commercial, saying he thought the kick bounced in.
Still, you would think that after 14 seasons kicking in the NFL, Feely would know the difference between a good kick and a bad one. This would be funny if it were any analyst, but the fact that it’s a kicker makes it even better. Maybe Feely was just so anxious to applaud another kicker that he got ahead of himself. Or something.
About Alex Putterman
Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.