As a Monday Night Football analyst, former NFL head coach Jon Gruden has developed a reputation for offering nothing but positive commentary: This guy is great, that guy is great, every guy is great. Although Gruden has built a successful media career with that approach, he also takes some criticism for fans and members of the media who would prefer a color commentator who’s willing to speak with more candor when a player isn’t getting the job done.
And it turns out that at least one NFL player thinks Gruden goes overboard, too.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was entertainingly tweeting during Thursday night’s NBA Finals Game 7, and in one particular tweet, he critiqued ESPN basketball analyst Magic Johnson by saying that Johnson is too much like Gruden because he talks like “Everybody is the greatest everything.”
Magic is quickly becoming the John Gruden of ESPN NBA coverage. Everybody is the greatest everything. #bedtime
— Aaron Rodgers (@AaronRodgers12) June 21, 2013
I don’t watch enough of ESPN’s NBA coverage to know if Rodgers’ criticism of Johnson is valid, but I do agree with Rodgers that Gruden can be so relentlessly positive about every player that his analysis becomes pointless: When you call every player great it can serve to diminish the players who are truly great. Perhaps that’s why it took a truly great player to call Gruden out.