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The sports broadcasting world is filled with talking heads who spend a good chunk of their day being Certified Haters at the expense of the players who draw their ire. In most cases, they don’t have to worry about any retribution—but one incident involving Jim Everett and Jim Rome was not most cases.
Rome initially made a name for himself as a host at a sports radio station in San Diego, and that particular medium has been his bread and butter for the bulk of his career. However, he also linked up with ESPN in conjunction with the launch of ESPN2 in 1993, which brought a personal brand defined by his snide arrogance to national television.
Rome is one of those guys who takes a fair amount of joy in ruffling feathers; a noted troll who prides himself on “calling it like he sees it” and the kind of person who will refuse to apologize if someone gets offended over something he says while he’s “just speaking his mind.”
In the 1990s, Rome found himself engaged in a feud with NFL quarterback Jim Everett, who found himself dogged by critics who questioned his toughness and mental fortitude thanks in no small part to the infamous “phantom sack” that transpired when the Rams faced off against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game in 1994.
Rome adopted a wildly juvenile nickname for Everett thanks to his supposed lack of grit, and the two men eventually got a chance to meet in person before we were treated to a “Talk S***, Get Hit” Moment for the ages.
Why Jim Everett attacked Jim Rome during an appearance on his television show
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Prior to the phantom sack, Rome had started to refer to Everett as “Chris” in reference to Chris Evert, the women’s tennis player who won 18 majors over the course of her legendary career.
Why? Well, Jim Everett was a guy while Chris Evert was a woman, and calling him Chris is “funny” because it suggests he’s not actually a Real Man (nobody ever said Jim Rome was on the cutting edge of comedy).
While the best thing you can do if you find yourself in that situation is to simply avoid feeding the trolls, Everett (somewhat understandably) took issue with a talking head with a national profile calling his manhood into question while dragging his name through the mud.
The two men got the opportunity to hash out their differences when Everett was invited to appear on an episode of Rome’s ESPN2 program Talk2 on April 6, 1994.
If there were any doubts the host was going to be afraid to say the insult to the quarterback’s face, they were quickly erased when he kicked off the interview by introducing Everett with his real name before saying, “Check that; Chris Everet!”
From there, the two went back and forth over the origins of the derisive nickname as Everett attempted to downplay concerns over his toughness before leaning in toward Rome and firmly stating, “If you call me Chris Evert to my face one more time, we better take a station break.”
Rome continued to toy with Everett before doing exactly that, and at that point, the QB flipped over the table separating them, grabbed Rome by his jacket, and threw him to the ground before a crew member ran in to try to separate them.
Everett quickly apologized for losing his cool after the dust settled, and while Rome refused to do the same in the wake of the incident, he eventually admitted he was in the wrong.
The host also says he spent years attempting to get Everett to agree to a second interview to officially clear the air, but the QB has declined to take him up on that offer.