SI

NFL Films Does Outstanding Job Capturing Drama of Wild Bills-Jets Game

Also in Traina Thoughts: Record-setting MNF ratings; radio host makes quite a blunder; ‘Bad Beats’ and much more.

Jimmy Traina

1. It’s been a couple of days, but Monday’s Bills-Jets game is still the talk of the sports world. As I told you last week, NFL Films is a must-follow on Twitter during the season because of the great mic’d-up videos they post during the week.

Well, NFL Films outdid itself this week with an outstanding four-and-a-half-minute compilation of highlights, mic’d-up moments and radio calls of New York’s 22–16 overtime win. The visuals here are truly stunning, but the emotion and intensity of the game are captured perfectly. Plus, the cameras caught an unbelievable flop from Josh Allen about 2:30 in.

2. That Bills-Jets game became the most-watched Monday Night Football game since the franchise moved from ABC to ESPN. Average viewership of the game was 22.6 million people. The previous high was 21.8 million for Vikings-Packers in 2009, which was Brett Favre’s first game against Green Bay.

3. ESPN New York radio host Michael Kay said on his show Monday that Giants coach Brian Daboll held a party at his house the night before New York got embarrassed, 40–0, against Dallas on Sunday Night Football.

There was only one problem.

The party was a birthday party for Daboll's 6-year-old son.

I never lie to you guys, so I'm gonna be honest. When I first heard this story, I laughed. It’s a funny mix-up, although I’m sure Daboll and the Giants don’t feel that way.

Anyway, Kay profusely and sincerely apologized on his show Tuesday.

“I need to make a heartfelt apology to Brian Daboll,” said Kay. “I found out after, and I should have done more work, I’m a complete ass for doing this, and I feel sorry for any pain I might have caused that family by insinuating anything. I found out later it was a party for his 6-year-old; it was a birthday party. I should have dug deeper and I didn’t think it was going to be a big thing, but it became sort of a big thing last night and I want to cut it off at the legs and say that is on me. And I was irresponsible because I didn’t check it out further and I apologize to anybody that was impacted by my flippant remark about a party at his house.

“I feel like a complete idiot and I’m really, really sorry to Brian Daboll, Brian Daboll’s family and the Giants as well; they’ve always been very fair with us. I am really, really apologetic.

“I can’t put myself out anymore than this because this was a huge mistake. That’s not the show we are, we’re not a sensationalistic show and I just made a comment not thinking it would be that big of a deal, and if it was a big deal I want to apologize and pull the rug out from under it.”

Give Kay credit. Yes, he made a bad mistake, but that’s how you apologize. No sugarcoating. No excuses. We all screw up from time to time, and you have to own it. Kay did that.

4. Here is this week’s “Bad Beats” from Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve.

5. Obviously, I have no idea whether these allegations against Alex Rodriguez are true (although I totally believe them). But what I find remarkable about this entire thing is that this is the person ESPN and Fox have made the face of their MLB coverage. It never made any sense.

6. There are two recent episodes of SI Media With Jimmy Traina that you should check out. Earlier this week, I taped a bonus pod where I did a full review of YouTube’s debut with NFL Sunday Ticket. Check that out below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

Also, last week’s podcast featured a great interview with former Patriot and current Fox television analyst Julian Edelman.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Fugitive Danelo Cavalcante was captured this morning, wearing an Eagles shirt, after a two-week manhunt in Pennsylvania. And then this question was asked when police held a press conference.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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