WPEN (97.5 The Fanatic)/Philadelphia's Mike Missanelli Loses TV Gig Over Comments About Female NFL Announcer

Missanelli

BEASLEY Sports WPEN (97.5 THE FANATIC)/PHILADELPHIA afternoon host MIKE MISSANELLI's comments about women doing play-by-play of men's sports led to his firing from a TV show, reports CROSSING BROAD.

MISSANELLI said he was fired from ABC O&O WPVI-TV (6ABC)/PHILADELPHIA's "SPORTS SUNDAY" for comments about ESPN and CBS NFL play-by-play announcer BETH MOWINS.  On his radio show, MISSANELLI told producer ANDREW SALCIUNAS, "I don’t know why the sporting world needs a female play-by-play person on an NFL game. And I know that sounds harsh, and I just want to know what is the reason for it... Here’s my rationale for that: women don’t grow up playing football."  

After offering praise for ESPN baseball analyst JESSICA MENDOZA's work ("(she) does a really good job, not as a play-by-play person, but as an analyst"), MISSANELLI was asked if he thought another play-by-play announcer, SEAN MCDONOUGH, had played football, and responded, "I don’t know if he did or not. Um, but, I think that he… see, I would have to understand how BETH MOWINS grew up, if she grew up following football and, um, you know, I don’t know. SEAN MCDONOUGH as a guy is more in-tuned with football than a woman would be, in my opinion..... It just to me sounds unnatural for her to be calling the NFL. Now, in college, it sounds sort of unnatural as well. But I can live with college. But this is prime time, MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. I didn’t catch a lot of the game. Was she good? If she did a good job, then I’m wrong.”

Last week, MISSANELLI admitted that he was fired from his regular appearances on 6ABC's weekly sports show for the comments.  MISSANELLI said that he was "trying (to) stimulate conversation... but I was wrong in saying it. And I walked the comment back almost immediately.... a lot of haters blew it up on social media, and I was dismissed from the Channel 6 gig. Now I have nobody to blame but myself. Did I think it was a harsh result? Yeah, I do think it was a harsh result. But I was the one who said it, so I took the heat basically. And there are some things you can’t do these days. So I accept full responsibility."

MOWINS called the second half of this season's "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" doubleheader for ESPN and teams with JAY FEELY for one of CBS' NFL announcing teams.

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