It’s safe to say that Baltimore Ravens play-by-play announcer Gerry Sandusky has no love lost for members of the NFL’s chain gang.
The chain gang got some screen time during the final few moments of Friday’s preseason contest between the Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.
The Eagles were facing 4th-and-1 from their own 48 with the scored tied at 13 heading into the 2-minute warning. Eagles QB Tanner McKee held on to the football for his team’s infamous tush push play. A dog pile led to uncertainty about whether or not the Eagles had gotten the first down.
The chain gang came out to confirm that McKee did gain the needed yard, but not before getting savagely dissed by Sandusky. One member of the chain gang in particular even got called out for wearing glasses and being out of shape.
"In a game where they have GPS trackers on player's shoulder pads…we still use guys with glasses who are no longer what you'd call physically fit trotting out a pair of sticks to measure first downs."
Gerry Sandusky doesn't care for the chain gang. pic.twitter.com/VwEZlfk4Bu
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 10, 2024
“It just seems absurd,” said Sandusky. “That in a game where they have GPS trackers on player’s shoulder pads, they have 19 different algorithms to measure everything in the NFL, we still use guys with glasses who are no longer what you’d call physically fit trotting out a pair of sticks to measure first downs.”
NFL teams have complained for years about inconsistent or even flat-out inaccurate rulings made by the chain gang. Count Sandusky as someone in the camp of those who want the process to be fully automated.
The Eagles went on to win 16-13 via a 49-yard field goal from kicker Jake Elliott.
