Highlights
- Jim Everett and Jim Rome’s infamous argument on the talk show “Talk2” was the result of years of Rome mocking Everett.
- Everett confronted Rome during the interview.
- In the years since the incident, Everett has expressed no regrets and still dislikes Rome.
Most of the time when people wonder what happened to the ‘90s best talk show hosts, they think about late-night figures like Jay Leno and David Letterman. However, some passionate fans care much more about the people who hosted the most popular sports shows during that decade.
Long before fans wanted to know if the NFL is making money from Taylor Swift or about Josh Allen’s breakup, Jim Rome talked about the ‘90s biggest sports stars. Unfortunately for Rome and Jim Everett, that put the two sports figures on a crash course toward each other which resulted in a truly explosive argument that is still infamous today.
Why Did Jim Evertt Fight Jim Rome?
When NFL fans sit on their couch watching the latest game, it is easy for them to talk about what they would do. What those same fans sometimes forget, however, is it is a lot different for the people who are on the field and have massive men running toward them ready to mow them down at full speed.
During the 1989 NFC Championship game, Jim Everett was sacked so many times that he clearly became freaked out by the situation. Evidently not wanting to get hit by the San Francisco 49ers players anymore, Everett went down without being touched by any of the opposing players. That incident ultimately became known as Everett’s phantom sack.
Since football players are expected to be willing to take the hits, Everett got a lot of flack in the media for the phantom sack moment. Arguably the longest-lasting blowback that Everett received came from Jim Rome. A sports radio talk show host, Rome began referring to Jim Everett as Chris Everett.
Teams That Jim Everett Played For:
- Houston Oilers
- New Orleans Saints
- San Diego Chargers
While that nickname may seem random, it was a reference to a female tennis player named Chris Evert. In short, Rome was questioning Everett’s manhood as a result of the quarterback’s phantom sack. While that kind of nickname likely wouldn’t fly today, Rome called Jim Everett Chris Everett for years.
That situation eventually came to a head years later in 1994 when Everett made an appearance on Talk2 and the subject came up. With both men in the same room after years of the quarterback being mocked, Rome began by addressing Everett as “Jim”. However, their interaction took a sudden turn within the first five seconds of their interview.
Immediately after Rome called Everett Jim, he took that back and used his longstanding nickname again. “Check that. Chris Everett, good to have you on the show.”
After they disagreed over how long the talk show host had been calling the quarterback Chris, Everett and Rome began arguing over if the nickname was deserved.
After that quick debate that lasted a handful of seconds, Everett outright threatened Rome.
“If you guys want to take a station break you can but if you call me Chris Everett to my face one more time, you better. One more time, you better take a station break.”
As Everett leaned over talk show’s desk with a smirk on his face, it briefly seemed like things might cool off. When Rome brought up that there was a lot of of show left to film, Everett agreed and sat back in his chair. However, the tension quickly picked back up again as Everett leaned forward once more to further talk to Rome about the nickname.
“It is good to be here with you though. You know, because you’ve been talking like this behind my back for a long time.” After Rome commented that he used the nickname to Everett’s face, the quarterback suggested that the talk show host wouldn’t do that again. “I think that you probably won’t say it again.”
For viewers who were watching the broadcast live, there was no way to know what was going on in Rome’s mind at that moment. Did Rome think Everett was bluffing and he wouldn’t get physical? Did Rome think he would never live it down if he backed down at that moment? There was no way to know Rome’s thought process.
What quickly became clear, however, was that Rome wasn’t going to back down. After remarking “ I bet I do,” Rome called Everett Chris again and havoc ensued.
As Everett stood up, he flipped the table that was between him and Rome on its side so it was out of the way. The much larger Everett then proceeded to rush at Rome who looked frightened as he stood up and was knocked onto his backside by the quarterback.
At that moment, the duo’s microphones appeared to be turned off as a third man rushed to the scene to try and intercede. Fortunately for everyone involved, there didn’t appear to be anymore violence following that initial rush.
After Talk2 went to a commercial break, it returned with Everett gone. In the aftermath of the incident, Everett apologized for losing his cool in the moment.
Do Jim Everett And Jim Rome Regret Their Fight?
In the years since Jim Everett and Jim Rome’s battle of words and shoving, both men have addressed the incident. In Everett’s case, he doesn’t seem to have any regrets and he still seems to really dislike Rome. According to a Washington Post article from 1994, Everett explicitly told reporters he didn’t regret rushing at Rome.
“I really don’t condone my actions, but I was put in a position that I thought was going to be in a journalistic-type interview and, instead, I was put into what I felt was a taunting attack. I don’t regret what I did.”
Who Is Jim Rome?
- The Jim Rome Show from 1996 until present
- Jim Rome Is Burning from 2003 until 2012
- Talk2 from 1993 until 1998
- Co-hosted other shows including The FX Sports Show and The Last Word
- Worth $110 million according to Celebrity Net Worth
Rome has also posted on X about Rome having a punchable face and about reminiscing about the incident. On the other hand, Rome has repeatedly been open about regretting his treatment of Everett during the incident. A perfect example of that is Rome told The Beaver County Times in 2003 that he pushed things too far.
“What I learned from that is, I didn’t have to do it three times. In retrospect, I didn’t know he was that angry.”
More recently in 2021, Rome was interviewed by Dan Le Batard. During the resulting conversation, Rome reflected on how he broke into the sports talk business by trying to be edgy and how he took things too far with Everett. Most interestingly, Rome revealed that he repeatedly reached out to Everett after the incident in an attempt to make things right.
“He and I have never spoken since. For 10 years, I tried to redo the interview. For 10 years I wanted closure. And he always said, ‘No, man. I don’t need that.’ And I finally stopped asking.”
Source: NewsFinale
