The mouth that boomed could be blaring through your TV on the first Monday night of the season.
Veteran ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman reportedly will call the second game of the Week One Monday Night Football doubleheader, in Oakland as the Raiders host the Chargers. The news comes from SportsByBrooks (via U-T San Diego).
ESPN would not confirm the report. “We will announce the commentator assignment for that game in the coming weeks,” an ESPN spokesman told Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego on Friday.
Berman will get his feet wet in the preseason, calling an exhibition game on ESPN with Trent Dilfer serving as analyst. Dilfer also will join Berman for the Chargers-Raiders game.
A fixture on the network’s primary NFL studio shows, Berman has called plenty of baseball games over the years. But he’s never done an NFL game. (He has done a Texas prison league game, however.)
Given the size of the stage, his personal lack of experience, and a voice that is at times, well, grating, it’s unclear who will need the Deux Deux Deuxs more: Berman, Dilfer, or anyone at home listening.
Either way, it would be wise to double the seven-second delay. Of course, an F-bomb or two wouldn’t nearly be as bad as a repeat of Ditka rearranging the furniture.