Former Miami Herald columnist and ESPN personality Dan Le Batard, now host of one of the most-listened-to sports podcasts in America, has a knack for derailing interviews, peppering guests with uncomfortable questions, including grilling baseball commissioner Rob Manfred for accepting Bruce Sherman’s ownership bid, only for the Marlins to immediately trade their three best players in Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna.
As they often do, things went sideways for Le Batard Tuesday when his cohost, Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, asked former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (who is making the media rounds ahead of his debut as a studio analyst for Amazon’s coverage of Thursday Night Football), about a rumor that his hip injury last season was actually the result of a waterpark mishap. That obviously struck a nerve with Fitzpatrick, who, one would assume, will not be returning to The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz any time soon.
“No, I got hurt in a game. I think everybody saw that,” said an amused Fitzpatrick, who started for a record nine teams over the course of his 17-year career. “I think you probably already knew the answer to that question. I know it’s funny and light, but now you give a rumor some more breath. It’s silly and it doesn’t make sense and no, that never happened.”
It’s surprising that Fitzpatrick would take such offense to this theory, but clearly the Harvard alum was in no mood to joke about it, lashing out at Le Batard for his show’s brand of “gotcha” journalism. “We can move on to something else,” said Fitzpatrick, uninterested in Le Batard’s apology for “hitting a sensitive spot.” “I’m glad we’re not on Zoom right now. I’m glad it’s just on air. This is like a gotcha [interview] where you have some crazy rumor that never happened that we’re going to give breath to.”
Fitzpatrick, probably against his better judgment, appeared on local radio later that morning, where a similar question was posed by the Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan. “I don’t even want to give breath to this rumor that’s obviously not true,” said Fitzpatrick, shutting down the question before JP Flaim or Jason “Lurch” Bishop could ask a follow-up. “I know it’s a silly thing and it’s fun, but I don’t even know if it needs to be talked about.”
You’d think someone who went shirtless to a Bills playoff game this past January, mingling with fans in the nosebleeds of Highmark Stadium, would have a sense of humor about a harmless rumor that, if anything, would make him seem more relatable. However, Fitzpatrick seems to have very little patience when it comes to this particular subject, making abundantly clear in his dealings with Le Batard and the Sports Junkies that his water park escapades are off limits.
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