President Obama, Bill Simmons talk Jordan, Rodgers and Goodell
Bill Simmons may no longer have his own website to publish his work on but that does not mean the former ESPN star is done writing, with GQ publishing an interview between the Sports Guy and President Obama on Tuesday.
The conversation touched on a wide rang of topics but repeatedly came back to the common ground of sports, with Obama using players to explain how he attacks the presidency, as well as revealing an interest in owning an NBA team some day.
The President welcomed Simmons's attempt to compare him to famously deadpan Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, but the Bears fan said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers may be the closest approximation to his style in the White House.
• Did Mike Ditka curse the Packers by wearing the team’s colors?
“[M]aybe [Aaron] Rodgers in the pocket, in the sense of you can’t be distracted by what’s around you, you’ve got to be looking downfield. And I think that’s a quality that I have—not getting flustered in what’s around me.”
Obama is a fan of watching sports while getting his cardio in and said he enjoys the Golf Channel’s Big Break series as well as rewatching old Bulls games, and learning a few lessons from Michael Jordan along the way.
“But a thing that you’re reminded of, watching those old Bulls games, is Jordan had some stinker games in the playoffs. But he would get that out of his mind, and then the next moment comes and he’s right there. ... Part of what I try to do—not at the level that Jordan did on the basketball court, but part of what you aspire to as president or any of these positions of leadership—is to try to figure out how to be in the moment, make the best decision you can, know that you’re going to get a bunch of them right, but a bunch of times you’re also not going to get it exactly the way you want it.”
• Andy Dalton did not like J.J. Watt’s A Christmas Story joke
Simmons also tried to get a look into what the President has planned for his life after the oval office, touching on possibilities ranging from the Supreme Court to owning an NBA team to being the commissioner of a sports league, which led to a funny exchange with the President trying to avoid Simmons’s ongoing feud with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
So you think the owners like having [Roger Goodell] there?
You’re not going to drag me into your fights, man. Come on—I’ve got enough fights of my own.[laughs] This is between you and Roger.
The whole interview on GQ.com is entertaining and deals with topics from the economy to gun control to Obama successfully quitting smoking
