Kurt Warner Complains About Not Hiring Best Person for a Job
By Jason Lisk
Yesterday afternoon, Kurt Warner waxed philosophical on merit-based hiring practices. Or perhaps he turned into Kurt Whiner, depending on your view.
I remember the days growing up believing the BEST person for the job - not race, not gender, not age, not pedigree -led to gaining position... trying to figure out if it ever TRULY applied (thinking I was just a naive kid) but, if so, how did we get so backwards!?
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) May 2, 2018
This morning, as we’ve found out, Jason Witten has been confirmed as the choice on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. That brings into question whether Warner’s sudden interest in complaining about hiring decisions has anything to do with Witten getting the job. Maybe Warner just lost out on getting a prime PTA position on a Wednesday afternoon. But then again, Mike Florio is reporting that Warner came in second in the Monday Night sweepstakes with ESPN. If that’s the case, he would have been informed before today’s news broke.
[UPDATE: Kurt Warner appeared on the Bernie Show on 101 ESPN in St. Louis and denied that the tweet was related to MNF.
“Oh no, absolutely not. I mean, I didn’t know that was an issue, and that had absolutely nothing to do with Monday Night Football, it had nothing to do with anything I was dealing with personally at that point in time. It had to do with some different things that I saw that were out there, different things that were going on, and where we are in this society as a whole. And I referenced back to times when I was playing, for sure. There were times when I really felt like I was the best person for the job, and I always thought when you get to the highest level, when you get to the NFL level, the best person for the job is going to get the job … but that has nothing to do with the Monday Night Football thing.”]
It’s hard not to notice that there seems to be an infatuation with former Cowboys. That’s one thing that Kurt Warner did not have going for him, though he does have a Hall of Fame jacket, Super Bowl titles, and experience calling games and serving as an analyst.
Here’s a legitimate question: who’s the more famous player, if that’s what ESPN is going for? I would think it’s Warner. Witten is a Cowboys’ fan favorite and long-time staple of the team, but the vast, vast majority of NFL fans are not Cowboys fans. Warner is likely the choice among the rest.