Erin Andrews jumped into the fray.
The Fox Sports reporter clapped back at an anonymous NFL exec who labeled Bills quarterback Josh Allen as “overrated” on the latest episode of her “Calm Down” podcast, which she co-hosts with Charissa Thompson.
“Like come on, if you’re gonna say something by that, say it with your chest. Take ownership,” Andrews said. “I’m afraid, so I’m gonna say something mean. It’s like Twitter. Shut up.”
“Sources are funny, aren’t they?” Thompson added. “I’ll leave that alone since I get in trouble for being too honest.”
The drama unfolded when ESPN published a survey of 80 NFL coaches, execs and scouts who ranked the league’s top 10 players at 11 positions — and one anonymous exec said the two-time Pro Bowler was “one of the more overrated players in the NFL.”
“Immense talent but he [Allen] makes a lot of mistakes,” the exec reportedly told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “He’s underdeveloped at winning at the line of scrimmage, tends to lock on to targets, more of a thrower than precision passer, forces throws into traffic.”
Allen — the No. 3 QB behind the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow — had a strong 2023 campaign, ranking fourth in the NFL with 4,306 yards passing, 29 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.
He ran for 524 yards and his 15 rushing touchdowns were tied for second-most in the league.
Bills GM Brandon Beane also expressed his frustration about the source’s remarks.
“I don’t know where to start. It’s frustrating,” Beane said during Bills training camp last week. “You try to ignore this stuff, but Josh is going into Year 7 and there’s still the naysayers. I don’t get it. If I was going to use rated, I would say underrated before I would say overrated. And I know I’m biased. He’s our guy, love him every single day.
“These things that come out there — I know people love the rankings of whoever — but when you don’t put your name to it and you make comments like that. Like, who is this executive? Executive is a loose term. I was probably referred to as an executive well before I should have been. I just say, if you’re not going to put your name on it, we really shouldn’t validate it,” he added.
“There’s idiots everywhere.”
Andrews, 46, and Thompson, 42, jumped into the topic after a chat about Joe Burrow’s new hairstyle — a bleached blonde buzz cut — which has sparked both shock and hilarity on social media.
The QB’s response to the new look was simple – “I was bored,” he told reporters during training camp.
Thompson, who hosts Fox NFL Kickoff and the Sunday morning pregame show, related to the 27-year-old.
“I am still in the process, like Joe Burrow, of figuring out what my hairstyle is gonna be. Did you see this cutie? I’m into it. You know what, do you Joe,” she said.
Andrews chimed in, “And by the way, for those of you who have to make your weird remarks, who are you — first overall — and second, just do you. Why can’t everybody have fun? Aaron Rodgers always starts his season with a big mustache, like he’s in pre-season with that.”
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