Kevin Harlan Calls Erin Andrews Reaction During Richard Sherman Interview "Drama Queenish"

Kevin Harlan was a guest on CBS Radio in Pittsburgh Thursday afternoon and, naturally, the topic of the Richard Sherman/Erin Andrews interview came up. Just when you thought we might be able to move away from the story and start focusing on the Super Bowl, the CBS play-by-play veteran threw some more lighter fluid onto the fire with an unprompted attack on Andrews.

"“I don’t know if she was unprepared, her reaction was more about her than the guy,” Harlan said. “It was very odd. If you go back and look at that interview, her reaction was more like drama queenish.”"

It’s hard to figure how Harlan saw Andrews holding a microphone in the face of a player and thought “drama queen,” but he kept going:

"“If Michelle Tafoya or someone like that were interviewing, I can’t help believe that she wouldn’t have asked the appropriate followup and been a little bit more composed,” Harlan added. “Whereas the gal that was asking the questions was almost like she was on a stage. It wasn’t about her, it’s all about him, and the more I think about it, the more irritated I get.”"

If you go back and watch the interview, it’s hard to say Andrews did anything wrong or even unprofessional. Her first question was about the final play of the game, which was completely fair. From there, nobody on planet Earth – save Sherman himself – knew he was going to launch into a Randy “Macho Man” Savage style wrestling promo, trashing Michael Crabtree in the process.

After that, Andrews’ follow up question:”Who was talking about you?” was also fair. Odds are most people watching weren’t quite sure who Sherman was ranting about, or why. Thursday, Fox producers said they cut away from the interview out of fear it was getting “dangerous,” i.e. Sherman might use inappropriate language, even though it sounded like Sherman made the decision to bolt himself.

Harlan, like Jeff Pearlman earlier this week, sized up an easy target in Andrews and swung away. Pettiness and jealousy often run deep in the media industry.

One final thought: It’s rich Harlan would say Andrews acted “almost like she was on a stage,” considering he’s the same guy that yells over-the-top cliches after a six-yard catch in the second quarter every week of the season.