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Rutgers men's basketball suffered its first home loss of the season on Wednesday night. The Scarlet Knights had won 17 straight games at the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC) before falling to the Michigan Wolverines.
Fans tuning in to Rutgers' 62-50 loss might have seen a familiar face in the crowd. WFAN's Jerry Recco, also the play-by-play commentator for Rutgers basketball, was featured in cardboard form alongside the "Riot Squad," Rutgers' student section. Within the first few minutes of the television broadcast, the "Jerry Head" made an appearance, which filled WFAN's Greg Giannotti with pride.
It was a mission Giannotti, Recco and the rest of the WFAN Morning Show crew planned with the help of Harris, a Rutgers student who managed to earn a close enough spot to garner the attention of the TV cameras.
"It was funny," Recco said, filling in for Boomer Esiason. "What was weird, I go to do the pre-game interview with (Rutgers head coach Steve) Pikiell ... and I see Harris on line as I'm walking out of the building. I'm probably 100 yards away and I can see the big head. I'm like oh, geez I've got to go walk past this thing. I went and said hello, I took a picture with him, which was very nice. ... Then they open the doors and I can see him running to his spot to make sure he got in the first couple of rows and he did. What was interesting is they always have a lot of those heads there. Last night, there weren't. I didn't know where they were!"
Giannotti won't stand for any "Jerry Head" slander. Rutgers has yet to defeat Michigan, falling to 0-13 all-time agains the Wolverines. Led by head coach Juwan Howard, Michigan (18-9) won its last four games.
"Michigan, listen, they were a really good team at one point this year," Giannotti said. "This is not a surprise that they can play a game like this on the road. That was disappointing, but do not blame the Jerry Head! There's people out there immediately I saw on Twitter, 'oh it's the Jerry Head's fault.' No it is not. The Jerry Head was there in support of Rutgers basketball. You had the current New Jersey Governor, the former New Jersey Governor they were there ... it was a big deal and the Jerry Head was a part of it. The Jerry head did not contribute to the loss."
There are many questions surrounding the fate of the cardboard cutout, which was created with the help of The 7 Line's Darren Meenan. Where does the Recco cutout go following Wednesday night? Will it make another appearance at the RAC this season?
Giannotti allowed Harris to keep the cutout, but there was an impression that the head will be passed on to another student who will attend a future game. It also sets up a potential all-WFAN matchup on March 3, against Esiason's Maryland Terrapins — Rutgers' next home game.
"Man, a Boomer and Jerry dueling head night at the RAC. I'm in for that," Giannotti said. "I do think that it's going to be tough because Boomer and Maryland are synonymous with one another. This is going to be a huge game for Rutgers, Maryland being a very, very good team this year. That's going to be a tough one for a Rutgers student to be huddled up in the student section."