so many reasons to hate joe theismann the commentator

it's hard to separate your admiration of someone's career from their complete ineptitude in another field. joe theismann was a great player, but adds nothing to a football commentary. it was always obvious that theismann was over his head, but now, with the quick witted tony kornheiser by his side, it's even more painful to watch theismann's incompetence. he adds no insight other than his own stubborn view of the way things are or should be, and refuses to allow evidence to sway him. it's only the first pre-season game of espn's monday night football experiment, but already you can see theismann getting angry when kornheiser interjects or makes a valid point that opposes theismann. a prime example of theismann's uselessness as a colour commentator came up when he said that oakland's offensive coordinator, who has been away from coaching for many years and hired by his friend art shell, would thrive. when kornheiser skeptically asked if he really thought a guy that had been away from football for 8 years while running an inn and being a small town mayor could return and be immediately successful, theismann's detailed response was "yes," which was followed by a few seconds of silence as kornheiser waited for theismann to give some sort of reason, or an explanation as to why he felt how he did. but none came.
the same sort of standoff took place after theismann said he wouldn't have picked leinart with oakland's #7 pick either, and also believed leinart would have trouble succeeding in the nfl. period. when asked why, he said something about not proving himself and having a weak arm. the weak arm is granted, but as kornheiser then pointed out with regards to the leadership knock, leinart did lead his team to two national championships (nearly three). what he didn't point out, and what theismann surely knows, is that intelligent quarterbacks like leinart have had moderate to great nfl careers in spite of their arms, montana being an example of the latter and pennington being the former.
earlier this summer, theismann lashed out at his former canadian football team the toronto argos for signing 'known drug addict' ricky williams. theismann, with no inside knowledge as to what drugs ricky williams was caught using, claims that the player is an addict, and that toronto's signing will encourage drug use in the nfl. clearly, any player earning 4 million dollars per year will risk getting banned from the nfl now that they have the option of making 200,000 dollars a season in the cfl. great logic, joe!
his lack of skills as a commentator should not overshadow his brilliant and determined career, but as he continues to make inept remarks and bore us to death with his dated and shallow football knowledge, it eventually will.