The Best and Worst of the 2012 ESPYS

By: The Football Girl | Posted: July 12, 2012

Last night marked the 20^th anniversary of the ESPY Awards; also know as the deadest day in sports.  As usual NFL players came in droves donning their Wednesday best.  Former Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle presided over the ceremonies and was not short on jokes about Brees, the Saints and the word’s most famous backup quarterback. But were they effective?  My quick thoughts on that and other NFL-related happenings at last night’s big show.

-  It’s mid-July and I’m sick of Tebow. Rea;lly sick of him. As in if I were going to quit my job writing about the NFL it would solely be based on the expectation that we dedicate some much ink to a below average player. But apparently I’m alone since Tim Tebow’s "Best Momen" win over Bubba Watson was proof that Tebow Time even trumps Bieber Time. (24 million Bieber followers, 11,000 retweets and still no victory for Bubba?)

-  From mispronouncing Albert Pujols’ name to odd timing of joke delivery, Riggle was not a standout host. However, this is the risk you run by having a live show versus the Wednesday taping and Sunday airings of ESPYS past. I guarantee Riggle would have come across as much more effective with a little editing.

-  On the other hand, it was the show’s 20^th anniversary. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to shell out the coin required for the services of an already proven host like Justin Timberlake, Samuel L. Jackson or even last year’s host, Seth Meyers.

-  The best line of the night did not come from Riggle, but from presenter Joel McHale ('Community'), a Seattle sports fan who gave a shout-out to former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and then promptly said to him, “Don’t get up. I don’t want you to blow your back out.”

-  Drew Brees’ acceptance speech for “Best Record-Breaking Performance,” in which he thanked his teammates by rapid-speed nickname was nothing short of perfection. (Jimmy Graham as “avatar.” Nice.)

-  Speaking of perfection, Aaron Rodgers’ underrated personality was completely wasted in a poorly written presenting bit with Zooey Deschanel where she pretended to know about football and he stood there doing nothing.

-  The NFL guest list ran deep. In attendance: Tebow, both Mannings, Vernon Davis, Patrick Willis, Mark Sanchez, Brees, Rodgers, Rob Gronkowski, Matt Stafford and more. However, and maybe I’m being nit-picky, but I would have also liked to see any of the following: Michael Vick, Tom Brady, Arian Foster, Chad Johnson and Andrew Luck. 

-  How was Gronkowski nominated for Best NFL Player, but Tom Brady was not?

What did you think of the 2012 ESPYS and Rob Riggle? Any standout moments? And finally, anyone know where I can get a crisp, white t-shirt to keep me “cool?”

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