Andy Roddick Made His Debut Last Night On Fox Sports 1, Here’s How Twitter Reacted [Video]

by Tom Gainey | August 18th, 2013, 10:31 am
  • 13 Comments

After honing his skills working behind the mic on radio, Andy Roddick made his TV debut last night on the brand new Fox Sports Live. The nightly 11pm ET show on the new Fox Sports 1 network puts the former tennis World No. 1 on a “panel” alongside Donovan McNabb, Ephraim Salaam, Gary Payton and leggy blonde host Charissa Thompson.

“I was a tennis player for a long time, but I’ve been a sports fan a lot longer than that, and I am beyond excited to be joining Fox Sports Live, being a part of television’s newest national sports network, Fox Sports 1,” Roddick said in May. “It has always been a dream of mine to pursue an opportunity like this after my playing career, and I am incredibly grateful to Eric, Scott and the entire FOX Sports 1 team for helping make this dream a reality. I can’t wait to get started.”

In between highlight rips Saturday night, the panel offered their thoughts on the bigger news events of the day in sports. And the opinionated, sarcastic Roddick wasn’t shy discussing topics outside of tennis like baseball, football and more. Here’s a sample:


A tennis player getting paid to talk about the NFL on TV? Not surprisingly, the twitter reaction to the show and Roddick’s debut (and attire) was mixed:

(For Roddick fans he will be featured this Tuesday night in an HBO Real Sports interview with Mary Carillo.)


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13 Comments for Andy Roddick Made His Debut Last Night On Fox Sports 1, Here’s How Twitter Reacted [Video]

tennismonger Says:

Goog Lord! What’s next for FOX? A Muslim holding forth on Christianity?

August 18th, 2013 at 11:40 am


Anna Says:

Since when do sportscasters have to have played the sports they broadcast? Some of the best never played as professionals, and some of the professional athletes I’ve seen broadcasting are lucky to string 2-3 sensible sentences together. Andy is smart, verbal and has a sense of humor. Given some time and experience I think he’ll be fine. Actually, more than fine.

August 18th, 2013 at 3:50 pm


Hamza Says:

I agree with Anna. It’s the insights that matter. I don’t think you need to have played the game in an official capacity in order to talk interesting stuff about it. Secondly, Roddick has an interesting personality as well. His press conferences used to be hilarious, or atleast some of them. I would definitely like to listen to what he has to say, just because of his lively personality. Besides, if we want to be too rigid, intelligence agencies shouldn’t be headed by individuals who’ve never worked in the field. Superstores shouldn’t be owned by people who haven’t worked in a grocery store. We can come up with countless such examples. Yes, if we were talking about coaching or some other more professional activity, then the argument would be valid.

August 18th, 2013 at 5:44 pm


tennismonger Says:

You are all right, of course. Some Fox viewers just need more time to wrap their heads around the concept.

August 18th, 2013 at 6:58 pm


Polo Says:

Andy has to stick to talking about tennis first. Establish credibility first then transition into other sports. By no means is this Andy’s fault. This is all Fox’s doing.

August 18th, 2013 at 7:10 pm


Anna Says:

I don’t think he does. He’s a high level athlete who has the ability to know and talk about any American sport and I’m assuming their talking about more than just one sport. Do you think McNabb shouldn’t talk baseball because he was a football player? Believe me, more Americans know Andy Roddick than Ephraim Salaam. This is probably the first time an American tennis star has had this kind of visibility and it’s nothing but good for Andy and for tennis.

August 18th, 2013 at 7:46 pm


Kimberly Says:

Chris fowler great commentator for both tennis and college football

August 18th, 2013 at 8:55 pm


Ben Pronin Says:

Dick Enberg never played any sports and is revered. I’m not sure what Ted Robinson has ever done besides act as Johnny Mac’s sidekick. Not sure at the outrage. Anything is better than ESPN right now.

August 18th, 2013 at 9:31 pm


Anna Says:

Steve27 – Thanks for the interview. I liked his answer to the last question “my dad didn’t raise me to run away from it (difficult situations), so here I am”.

August 18th, 2013 at 9:51 pm


M Says:

Clearly none of these opinionated Twitterites are tennis fans. If they were, they would know Chris Fowler started out knowing absolutely nothing about tennis (he comes from the football world) and had to be coached on basic things, like how to pronounce names like “Ferrer” and “Berdych”.

August 20th, 2013 at 1:14 am


Russ Says:

Since when does an analyst have to have played a sport professionally in order to speak about it on air? What is everyone suggesting? That the show just feature segments where the camera cuts to the one guy who’s played the sport? That’s ridiculous. The format of the show involves intelligent and accomplished athletes giving their thoughts about sports. It’s one thing to say an analyst’s commentary is poor, it’s another to say “Because he didn’t play the sport about which he’s talking, what he has to say is automatically irrelevant.”

August 21st, 2013 at 5:56 pm


Jose Says:

What I don’t understand is ignorance, how many analysts are out there that never played professional sports. Andy is a retired professional athlete he’s followed sports in general all his life and is now on his second career, I guess is blessed and earned life is obviously one you envy. I also noticed you go by @NashSports; what makes you such an authority on Sports ? Criticize Andy for commenting on sports other than tennis while your associating yourself with sports with what professional background.

August 22nd, 2013 at 10:24 am

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