In Birmingham, Tom Green noted Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn yesterday "backpedaled" on comments he made earlier in the week about SEC Network, saying they were "meant to be tongue-in-cheek." During an appearance at the AFCA Convention on Tuesday, Malzahn noted the net is "trying to get the coach fired about every other day." He clarified that yesterday, saying, "I was having fun with that comment. I'm a big fan of the SEC Network. Now, did they say I was going to get fired? They probably did, but I was really having more fun with that" (AL.com, 1/10).
HURTS SO GOOD: SI.com's Richard Deitsch noted some on social media "questioned whether ESPN should be interviewing" Alabama QB Jalen Hurts after the CFP title game given that he was benched at halftime, but Hurts was a "significant newsworthy subject ... given he entered the game as the highest profile Alabama football player." Furthermore, he "wanted to be interviewed" by ESPN's Tom Rinaldi and "agreed to the interview on the field when Rinaldi asked him" (SI.com, 1/10).
BRADY'S BUNCH: ESPN's Dan Le Batard discussed Tom Brady's upcoming Facebook Watch series and said,"I’m here for the idea that I can get closer to these people, who are notoriously private. Maybe I can learn something about people who are just winning robots to me." ESPN's Pablo Torre: "We had a cult of personality that was quite boring around Tom Brady. Now that cult is super weird, and I want to find out what it involves” (“Highly Questionable,” ESPN, 1/10). The N.Y. Daily News' Frank Isola: "This is Tom Brady worrying about Tom Brady after his career is over" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 1/10).
