‘Mad Dog’ Russo Goes On ESPN To Detail Weekend Of Illegal Gambling And Substance Abuse

ESPN

Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo unleashed an all-time great First Take moment on Wednesday, as the veteran New York City radio personality took to ESPN’s airwaves to detail his plans over the weekend.

According to Russo, because of the bad weather that’s expected in New York this weekend and his wife being in Arizona to visit his son, he’s going to be making himself a cocktail by Noon on Saturday. Only after he goes for a run and walks his dog, of course.

Unlike Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, though Russo’s booze does need a buddy, as he also said he’ll be splitting a weed gummy in half to be taken at two separate times: once with the start of the Noon games and another for the 3:30 kickoffs.

The conversation came up after Stephen A. Smith called out Russo for dunking on Deion Smith and Colorado while on ESPN but then betting on them in his private life. That then led to host Molly Qerim teeing up Russo by telling him to detail his plans for the weekend, which he had shared with them off-air earlier in the day.

The result is what may be one of the most unhinged segments in the history of First Take, which is really saying something. Don’t forget to consider the fact that all the things Russo talked about — illegal gambling, drinking, and marijuana — happened on ESPN, which is owned by… Disney.

“At about 12:00, I’ll sit down, I’ll make an early cocktail, cut a gummy in half — we got Florida State-Clemson. I like the Florida State quarterback. I’ll do something [bet] there,” Russo begins.

“At about 3:25, when I’m sauced — I’m not driving, at the house — I’ll put the call into Fat Rob. 718-504… I’ll put the call into Fat Rob: ‘Rob, you know, what the hell — I can’t root for Oregon. I’ll pretend on TV. Put ten dimes on Colorado and Deion. So by 3:25 I’ll be sitting down with my shorts, with a t-shirt, cocktail, I’ll have the other half of the gummy.”

The moment left both Marcus Spears and Qerim stunned, as the usually cool and collected First Take host, after Russo finished talking, said something to the effect of: “Where am I right now?”

Spears even took to Twitter to say that he’s “still recovering” and that we must protect Mad Dog at “all cost”, while Kimberly Martin — who was also on First Take with Mad Dog on Wednesday — chimed in to call him a national treasure.