Rich Eisen got the excellent assignment of calling Saturday’s game between the Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on NFL Network. Unfortunately, the matchup of quarterbacks presented a bit of a problem for him.
Eisen kept mixing up the names of Jameis Winston and Deshaun Watson, repeatedly calling Winston “Watson” and Watson “Winston.” He did it at least six times in the first half. Take a listen:
Someone please tell Rich Eisen that Deshaun WATSON plays for the Texans. And Jameis WINSTON plays for the Bucs. pic.twitter.com/pjty1hnqDk
— David Cole (@DColeNY) December 21, 2019
After mixing them up for at least the sixth time, Eisen poked fun at himself, joking that if someone were playing a drinking game surrounding his screw-ups, they would be pretty wasted.
Winston and Watsons giving Rich Eisen some trouble calling Texans-Buccaneers #Elementary #MyDearWinston pic.twitter.com/CLBg1gVqJw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 21, 2019
Eisen said on Twitter that his wife texted him to suggest the idea of the drinking game.
My wife Suzy came up with the idea, texting me during a commercial break. #BetterHalf https://t.co/NkAorl0nVp
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) December 21, 2019
That’s what makes Eisen enjoyable. Even when he’s making mistakes, he at least finds a way to make it humorous and get in on the joke.
But Winston/Watson? They’re so different, that seems hard to screw up. Maybe Eisen just had a mental block about it. He also has plenty of company when it comes to funny broadcasting mistakes.
