Another sports personality has punched back at “Muhammad Kellerman.”
Just days after Stephen A. Smith spurned former “First Take” partner Max Kellerman for his explosive tell-all interview on the “Bill Simmons Podcast,” Mike Francesca rebuffed Kellerman’s claim that he was in line to join the radio host at WFAN following his split from “Mike and the Mad Dog.”
Speaking with Simmons, Kellerman professed that joining forces with Chris Russo was “the plan” and that he had seemingly been hand-picked to become his new partner — then concluded that Francesca went solo after realizing he didn’t need to welcome a co-host.
During a Tuesday taping of his BetRivers podcast, the 71-year-old sports personality clapped back at Kellerman for what he deemed a deeply distorted recollection of events.
“It’s completely untrue,” said the New York sports radio icon. “There’s not a word of truth to that. When Dog left, [WFAN program director Mark] Chernoff wanted me to sit down, take time, and meet a lot of people. We got hundreds of calls, hundreds, as you can imagine. I mean out of the woodwork, people I didn’t even know.”
Ironically, Francesca asserted that the first person he called about joining him in New York was the man interviewing Kellerman: Bill Simmons.
Nevertheless, The Ringer founder — who said during his chat with Kellerman that he received the call — quickly shut down the idea due to a lack of interest, given his firm placement in Los Angeles and unwavering fandom for Boston sports.
“The truth of the matter is, going back to the beginning, the first person I ever talked to, believe it or not, was Bill Simmons. Now, I called Bill and I said, ‘Bill, I got an idea.’ And he said, ‘I have no interest. It’s not what I want to do with my life, I appreciate it, I don’t even want to discuss it.’ So we didn’t even discuss it. He was the first person I talked to. He might not even remember that, but I do. Because I made the phone call.”
Francesca added that he also courted Kellerman’s former “First Take” partner turned bitter rival, Smith.
The pair shared a lunch before going their separate ways, but that was merely an appetizer for his controversial dinner with Kellerman.
Francesca also revealedhe was blindsided to learn that news of his meeting with Kellerman had leaked almost immediately, which led to the WFAN host cutting off communication between the two, entirely.
“We tried to be nice to people in-house who wanted an opportunity, but none of them were ever serious candidates,” Francesca said. “The first person I had lunch with was Stephen A. with Chernoff. I liked Max, I wanted to talk to Max, but like I said, I never thought there was a chance I was going to hire someone.
“I met with Max myself for dinner near my house. And by the time I got home it was already out that we had met and that finished him. We never talked again. And nobody, I can tell you this right now, this was an absolute fact and no one can dispute this because if they are they’re lying. Nobody ever got a second interview, there never was a second interview for anybody. No. 2, nobody ever got far enough to even have a discussion about being part of the show, what their role would be or money, it never ever came to that. That never happened. Nobody ever got that far and nobody was ever in line to get the show. Case closed.”
Though Francesa’s solo act never quite reached the heights of his show with Chris Russo, he remained a linchpin voice of New York Sports media and briefly held a national platform on Fox Sports 1.
Kellerman, who was ousted from ESPN in 2023, recently teamed up with super-agent Rich Paul and The Ringer to launch a new show, Game Over, which premiered on Dec. 9.
Source link
#Mike #Francesa #calls #Max #Kellerman #WFAN #lies #reveals #stopped #talking