Jon Gruden is one of us. He hates commercials — a true football guy’s football guy. However, as Gruden grew visibly irritated with the endless ads during the AFC and NFC Championship Games streamed live from Barstool’s Gambling Cave on Sunday, Gregg Giannotti began to notice cracks in the foundation of Gruden’s partnership with Dave Portnoy’s company. Giannotti, who co-hosts Boomer & Gio with Boomer Esiason on WFAN, has previously poked fun at Barstool Sports — albeit jokingly. During the New York Mets’ run to the National League Championship Series, he quipped that the watch party looked like the cantina scene from Star Wars, saying, “It’s an interesting group.”
While he didn’t specifically target Gruden’s cohorts on Sunday, Giannotti sensed a growing disinterest in Gruden’s role at Barstool. “He’s starting to lose it a little bit,” Giannotti commented on Boomer & Gio. “Not ‘lose it’ — he’s starting to get annoyed with parts of the job. You can tell because him sitting there and watching those football games with those guys, I think, is losing its luster to him. The last time he was doing it — last week — he did the old, ‘I wish I was home watching The Walking Dead, man.’ ‘Just innocent people getting snarfed.’ He said that, and then there’s this video with his face. You’ve seen enough of Gruden on the sideline; you’ve seen enough of him on Monday Night Football. He has this face that shows he is so annoyed while watching a Taco Bell commercial and hearing people scream in the background, remarking that, ‘Man, if I see one more commercial, I’m gonna kill myself.’” Giannotti censored Gruden’s more explicit jokes about “blowing his brains out” or “ODing on sleeping pills.”
I can’t stand all the commercials… pic.twitter.com/zYsaCGiNlY
— Jon Gruden (@BarstoolGruden) January 27, 2025
Can you tell this guy wants to be back on a sideline somewhere? Giannotti speculated that Gruden’s Super Bowl appearance might be his last livestream with Barstool. “I bet that after he does the Super Bowl and watches the Super Bowl with those guys, you’re not going to see him watching any more games with them,” Giannotti stated, as covered by Barrett Sports Media. He also raised a valid point about Gruden’s current viewing experience, noting that with Red Zone and Sunday Ticket, there are no commercials during the games. However, standalone matchups consist of a relentless stream of ads, and Gruden seems unable to endure the incessant Taco Bell and Burger King jingles for much longer.
While Giannotti may not have been entirely serious about Gruden, someone with aspirations to return to coaching—even if his Barstool venture has helped rehabilitate his image—might not be able to stomach many more live streams filled with endless commercials.
