Jamie Carragher’s comment about Kate Abdo highlights a key aspect of 2024 football culture.
This week, Jamie Carragher made a statement on colleague presenter Kate Abdo’s personal relationship with former boxer Malik Scott. It’s safe to say that most viewers noticed the former Liverpool defender had foolishly crossed a boundary.
Along with former football players Thierry Henry, Micah Richards, and Carragher, Abdo hosts CBS Sports’ coverage of the Premier League in the US. Together, they have established a reputation for their informal and witty style of presenting. So much so that the show’s clips frequently become viral.
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However, for all the wrong reasons, the performance became viral on Wednesday morning. Wearing an Arsenal shirt, Carragher joked with Abdo that she would have to wear the shirt next after Arsenal’s Champions League victory against Porto. Abdo answered, “Loyal to Manchester United, thank you very much.” Which is probably the appropriate point of termination for the joke.
It didn’t happen. As an alternative, Carragher tipped back “not to Malik,” clearly unable to control himself.
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It’s safe to say that, despite my repeated viewings of the incident, it still makes me cringe. When Carragher finally lets loose with his statements, the other presenters react with amazement and quiet. The former Liverpool defender begins to giggle nervously when he realizes he might have offended someone, which forces Abdo to respond, “Why would you even say that?”
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Yes, that is true. The moment quickly became viral and sparked a wave of outrage from spectators. Undoubtedly, the show’s producers started to lose sleep over how this would all work out. That could be the reason Abdo began the show the next night with a supposedly “classy” segment to a camera that said Carragher’s remarks had “gone too far” but that she had received an apology.
Fantastic work, Carragher. Bravo for your prompt apologies. However, why in the world did you think it was acceptable to include that degree of intensely personal humor in a live broadcast in the first place?
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Thinking back, I began to wonder if I had ever heard two male commentators say something similar. Not much came to mind. That’s funny.
Football is a game of quips. It has always been and always will be. That kind of chanting is frequently audible from the terraces. Visit any Premier League stadium on a matchday, and you can expect that you’ll hear some extremely personal verbal abuse directed at opposition players who have made headlines due to affairs, fights in nightclubs, or gambling addictions. It seems like nothing is forbidden.
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It’s a fairly disgusting aspect of football that is difficult to confront. It’s also a major contributing factor to the game’s inability to effectively address problems like racism and homophobia.
Returning to the broadcasting studio, you’ll frequently hear pundits engage in some of the milder types of football banter: jokes about a team’s lack of silverware, teams with rotating management staff, bad officiating, and even the infrequent verbal abuse of newly designed uniforms by presenters.
If Henry had been the target of the loyalty joke, I wonder what his response would have been. It probably wouldn’t have been as “classy” as Abdo’s.
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The worst kind of casual misogyny in sports can be found in Carragher’s “joke.”
I get the impression that he felt more “OK” about making the joke about a lady. Why? Because to put it plainly, she doesn’t seem like a threat to him.
So again, Carragher, congratulations on your apology. However, all you’ve actually accomplished is bringing to light the pervasiveness of casual misogyny in football. Fortunately for you, Abdo’s masterful handling of the entire situation has possibly saved your career. Later, you can express your gratitude to her.
