Joe Buck was devastated by early criticism in his career: ‘I cried’

Joe Buck knows his career benefited from who his father was, but that same pedigree also created challenges for him as a young broadcaster.

Buck joined Chicago Bears reporter Kevin Fishbain on his Breaking In podcast to discuss his media career and preview this week’s Monday Night Football matchup between the Bears and Minnesota Vikings.

During the podcast, Fishbain referenced an article by Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from before Buck even started calling games full-time. In the article, Caesar was critical of a 21-year-old Buck being “force-fed” on St. Louis Cardinals fans and attributed it to nepotism. A few decades later, Buck admits the article was upsetting.

“I cried,” Buck told Fishbain. “I was still living with my mom and dad as I was waiting for an apartment that I was trying to move into, and I remember reading that and crying. That’s how immature I was. But it was devastating to read that.”

“It wasn’t unfair, there was one reason why I was doing it, and he was right,” Buck continued. “I think that was a natural human reaction, and if you’re playing in a newspaper to people reading it, of course, you’re gonna find an audience there. Like, ‘Oh, we know how this kid got his job.’ No other 21-year-olds are doing this. And the reason is, I was my dad’s son.”

Buck said Caesar later called him for quotes before the Cardinals’ season started, and the play-by-play voice suggested just making them up.

“I said, ‘Dan, I give you permission to write whatever, you can make up my quotes…you’ve given me no chance to broadcast before you’re ripping me to shreds. Do whatever you want.’ He said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘What you’ve been writing has been really critical of me before I’ve done a game.’”

After confronting Caesar, Buck says they went to lunch and ultimately developed a more positive relationship.

Buck has previously said he feels guilty about being a “nepo baby times 10.” And while nepotism is undoubtedly what opened the door for his broadcasting career, it’s not what turned him into a Hall-of-Fame announcer.

It’s fair to note nepotism as a factor when an aspiring broadcaster is starting their career, but it shouldn’t cause an announcer to be judged unfairly. No team or network is going to keep someone on-air solely because of their surname. Being the son of Jack Buck helped Joe get on-air, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s earned his own Hall-of-Fame career.