Mike Francesa explains his podcast hiatus
Everything went according to the big guy’s plan.
Mike Francesa was back at work Monday following a 13-day break from his BetRivers podcast. And the WFAN legend laughed off the “rampant” speculation about his condition and whereabouts during the hiatus.
“All you crazies on the internet who came up with every possible reason, including my death, as to why I have been away during this time — it was planned,” said Francesa.
“I’m like, ‘Hey, I had a good run. I had a nice life.'”
Francesa said he had a scheduled knee replacement surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery. He did not expect to be out long, so he decided not to say anything before getting the procedure done. And he then opted to stay silent despite family and friends urging him to make a statement and put the rumors to bed.
“Here’s the amazing thing: Everybody at Special Surgery knew I was there,” Francesa said. “Everybody at BetRivers knew I was doing this. … My whole family knew about it. A million of my friends knew about it. And not one person leaked a thing about it. Not one anywhere. They let all the craziness go on and just sent me all the crazy things.
“A guy who said my studio was broken and I wouldn’t fix it because I was in a dispute with BetRivers. I guess he found that out when he came and visited my house when I was in the hospital, I don’t know. But that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
Eh, I can think of another.
James Kratch is a veteran sports reporter and editor. He currently reports on the youth sports industry for Buying Sandlot and was previously ESNY's managing editor. Before that he spent a decade at NJ Advance Media (The Star-Ledger and NJ.com), where he covered high school sports, the Giants and Rutgers.
