Clickin’ with … This is a new column feature, where we talk to people in the sports media business. Joe Buck is the first person on the hot seat.
Buck, 49, will be doing Sunday and Thursday NFL play-by-play, as well as the baseball playoffs.
He and his wife, ESPN reporter Michelle Beisner, just had twin boys.
His late father, Jack, is in both the Baseball and Football Hall of Fame as a broadcaster. Joe will call Cowboys-Panthers on Fox on Sunday afternoon.
Q: Who was your favorite athlete growing up?
JB: Ozzie Smith.
Q: What sport did you want to become a professional athlete in?
JB: I wanted to pitch in Major League Baseball. I tried to pitch in college [Indiana University], and reality hit me in the face when my 81-mph fastball wasn’t good enough.
Q: Who is your all-time favorite broadcaster, who is not related to you?
JB: Vin Scully.
Q: What don’t people know about Joe Buck?
JB: That I’m way too thin-skinned. I care too much about what everybody thinks.
Q: What did you think of new “Monday Night Football” play-by-player Joe Tessitore’s comments in The Ringer? (Tessitore said: “You say Joe Buck to me. I acknowledge the guy’s great. I didn’t have Joe Buck’s avenue, brother! … I was in Schenectady, New York, having a heel of bread and having some prosciutto.”)
JB: I say, “Welcome to the party.” Everybody has their own story. As I digested that story, the more I thought about it, the more interesting it became to me. He said, “I didn’t have Joe Buck’s path,” I guess meaning because I was Jack Buck’s son. He doesn’t know me. I don’t know that he knows anything about my path. I don’t think he knows how hard I’ve worked. I hope he does a great job because my wife works at ESPN, and he seems like he wants to have fun and do a good broadcast, so go get them.
Q: What will Joe Buck be doing in 10 years?
JB: I’m probably doing some version of what I’m doing now. The best-laid plans don’t always happen.
Q: If you could have one do-over in your career, what would it be?
JB: I would figure who Brooks Koepka was dating before he won the US Open at Erin Hills.