Tony Reali has reached out to Jay Mariotti multiple times over the past 14 years since Mariotti’s last appearance on Around the Horn. Recently, Mariotti made headlines by blaming “woke” culture for ESPN’s decision to end the show after 23 years, claiming it effectively ended when he departed in 2010 following seven misdemeanor charges related to an alleged domestic dispute. He ultimately pled no contest to charges involving stalking and assault against his ex-girlfriend and did not return to the show.
Despite this, Reali continued to make efforts to connect. “It took me a while to get to a space where I could do that, where I felt I needed to,” Reali told Brandon Contes on the Awful Announcing Podcast. “But, I want to be able to show my appreciation for people that built this show.”
That appreciation not only includes Mariotti but extends to others like Max Kellerman. “I also have to recognize, yeah, I don’t know how Max truly feels about a show that he moved on from,” Reali added. “Max’s life has been very public. I feel for him—he was filming This Just In next to the studio of the show he once worked on, which is still on air. That’s tough, and we never really discussed it.” With Mariotti, however, he did make the effort.
“I tried to have a conversation as a 29-year-old host trying to come to grips with someone so crucial to the show,” Reali said. “There’s legal stuff I don’t want to discuss since I don’t really know the details, but I wanted to check in with him, having worked together for seven years. I know he has strong feelings about the show ending that I may not share, but I must respect his perspective. This might also apply to everyone else who worked on the show in its early days but left during the later years—that’s a tough situation.”
Before discussing his efforts to connect with Mariotti, Reali took a moment to reflect on what Mariotti contributed to the show. “That guy was on TV for Around the Horn every day without fail. Nobody worked harder, and he was serving up flaming hot takes at a time when that was becoming a trend, which I appreciated for the show. His personality, while different from mine, added value to our collaboration.” Reali wanted Mariotti to know he was thinking about him during a challenging time marked by legal troubles and a fading television career.
“Mariotti would share personal opinions about our show that were bolder than what I might have said,” Reali explained. “I respected his perspective and felt his hurt, which affected me deeply. Reaching out multiple times led us to moments of clarity, but it never fully resolved. I can still sense the unresolved pain. I like to mention him on TV because he’s a founding father of the show. You can’t discuss the first decade without acknowledging his influence, even if he doesn’t have fond memories of it. That reality has been difficult for me to bear.”
Reali expressed his belief that Mariotti perceives the shows differently than he does: “There’s a neutrality missing in his view, and that makes me sad.”
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