On Monday night, ESPN’s Jon Gruden had a rare Chucky moment, calling out Cardinals quarterback Derek Anderson for yukking it up on the sidelines with guard Deuce Lutui while the home team was losing to the 49ers by 18 points. After the game, Anderson was asked about it during a press conference.
Let’s just say there was no laughing then.
KTAR has posted the video of the exchange. While it’s not nearly as epic as Denny Green’s 2006 “they are who we thought they were” rant, it’s the best sound bite the franchise has produced since then.
“You think this is funny, I take this shit serious,” Anderson said, his voice rising. “Real serious. I put my heart and soul into this shit every single week. . . . I don’t go out there and laugh. It’s not funny. Nothing’s funny to me. I don’t want to go out there and get embarrassed on Monday Night Football in front of everybody. . . . We’re talking. Deuce and I were talking.”
As the reporter began to ask about the context of the discussion, Anderson stormed off. (Fortunately, there was no microphone striking or references to crowning the asses of the 49ers.)
Here’s the reality. Anderson was laughing during the game, so he was lying after it. Getting pissed and talking loudly and walking off doesn’t change that fact.
The bigger problem, in our view, is that Anderson isn’t a very good quarterback, and that the Cardinals miserably have failed in their effort to replace Kurt Warner.
Fans of the other teams in the NFC West find that to be very funny.
UPDATE: Here’s the Anderson video:
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