Call it a happy accident.
Ian Eagle will be in the booth for the Jets-Giants showdown on Sunday, and has a great appreciation for the game given his Queens roots.
“It is a unique situation,” said Eagle, who will be calling the game on CBS alongside Dan Fouts.
“There is no other matchup like it in football. When we got the assignment, I was excited about it. … Growing up, the pre-Internet age and going to school and having debates — heated arguments — with your friends, that’s what it was all about. When you lived in New York it’s always Jets-Giants, Nets-Knicks, Mets-Yankees. That’s a big part of what being a New York sports fan is all about. That genuine passion for the local teams and the fact there are so many to choose from in the area.”
Though NFL announcer pairs are strictly chosen by what percentage of country will see the game, Eagle is not the first New York announcer in this position. Mike Breen (Manhattan) called the 1996 game, the year the Jets went 1-15, and Kenny Albert (Long Island) called the matchups for FOX in 2003 and 2011.
“When I look back at all the NFL games that I worked, those two are definitely near the top of the list as the ones that I looked at as the most fun and looked forward to,” Albert said. “I really grew up a fan of both teams, probably went to more Jets game than Giants as a kid because I grew up on Long Island.”
The 2011 game was memorable for Victor Cruz’s 99-yard touchdown that sparked the Giants’ stunning Super Bowl run.
“That was probably the top moment from the Giants-Jets rivalry from the last couple of decades,” Albert said. “That game had such significance given that going into the game whatever team won had a great chance of making the playoffs, and whatever team lost probably wouldn’t make it.”
The stakes are similar this time with the 6-5 Jets trying to stay in the AFC wild-card race and the 5-6 Giants attempting to get back ahead of the Redskins in the putrid NFC East. All sides have attempted to downplay the rivalry nature of the game in the post-Rex Ryan era.
“Unlike in the past, Rex Ryan is not part of the equation so you are not getting the potential for juicy, bulletin-board material,” said Eagle, who will be calling his first Jets-Giants game on Sunday after calling the Nets-Knicks game on Friday night.
“Todd Bowles is very business-like, he’s going under the radar. He’s not going to stir it up from that perspective and that’s never been a part of Tom Coughlin’s DNA. But I think for the players, there is a little extra edge to it. They may say it’s just another game, but they know the pride and bragging rights aspect.”