Mike Francesa Planned To ‘Surprise’ Stephen A. And ‘Mad Dog’ Russo On First Take Amid Rumors Of Mike And The Mad Dog Reunion
New York sports talk radio icon Mike Francesa admitted that he had planned to surprise and reunite with Mike and the Mad Dog partner Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo on the set of ESPN’s First Take.
Francesa and Russo hosted Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN sports talk in New York City for almost 20 years before the two split in 2008. Francesa stayed at WFAN, and Russo ended up at Sirius with his own channel, Mad Dog Sports Radio.
They reunited once before on Russo’s High Heat program on MLB Network in 2018.
The New York Post reported Monday that ESPN wanted to try and reunite the two on First Take, with Stephen A. Smith taking part in the reunion of the duo. The Post also reported that these talks date back to March 2022, but Francesa got sick the week they planned to have the reunion.
Francesa all but confirmed that the Post reported on his BetRivers Network podcast, The Mike Francesa Podcast, that he and Russo were almost paired up again.
“They called me last year and wanted me to surprise Dog and Stephen A. on First Take,” Francesa stated. “They wanted me to surprise them.”
“I was a little leery of surprising anybody. I thought it was better if they knew about it.”
Francesa explained that he and ESPN could not get a date in place, and with a bad cold, he had set back the plans.
“We were gonna decide that; we hadn’t decided it yet,” Francesa continued. “We went back and forth trying to find a date. We agreed on a date we were gonna do it, and I had a bad cold. I don’t want to say I had the flu cause I didn’t, but I was under the weather; had a sore throat, so passed on that day. I think it was in March.”
“The Sports Pope” explained that neither side got in touch with one other after that day.
“Said we’d get back to them,” Francesa added. “We never got back to each other again, and that’s where it’s stood.”
Francesa gave the possibility that he and Russo would reunite on First Take in the future.
“There’s a chance that maybe in the next couple of months I might make one,” Francesa said. “It’s not locked in yet. They did ask me to do it, and we were still discussing it.”
Listen above via The Mike Francesa Podcast.
