NBC suspends ex-Flyers center Jeremy Roenick over ‘inappropriate comments’

Jeremy Roenick, a former Flyers center who works as an NHL analyst for NBC Sports, has been suspended for comments he made about several colleagues on the Barstool Sports podcast Spittin’ Chiclets last week.

“Jeremy Roenick has been suspended indefinitely without pay for making inappropriate comments about his coworkers. We will have no further comment at this time,” NBC said in a statement.

Roenick, 49, suggested he would be open to sleeping with NBC Sports studio host Kathryn Tappen after the two went on a summer vacation in Portugal with Roenick’s wife, Tracy. Roenick said he was approached by at least one person who asked if the trio were together.

“I play it off like we’re all going to bed together every night, the three of us,” Roenick said. “If it really came to fruition, that would really be good. But it’s never going to happen.”

He also described Tappen and his wife as “blond bombshells” and added, “If you’re gonna go with two blondes, go someplace in the summer where the pool is out.” But Roenick also praised Tappen as one of “the most professional sports personalities” he has ever worked with.

“She wants people to respect her for her knowledge of sports, not just because she’s a pretty face,” Roenick said.

“While Jeremy and I continue to be good friends, what he said was unacceptable, especially among workplace colleagues. I do not condone his comments," Tappen said in a statement.

On the same podcast, Roenick also joked about sleeping with NBC Sports studio analyst and former Flyers left winger Patrick Sharp.

“He is so beautiful, I’d have to think about it if he asked me,” Roenick said. “I wouldn’t say no right away.”

Since retiring in 2009 after 20 seasons in the NHL on various teams, Roenick has worked as a TV analyst. He joined NBC Sports in 2010, and works as a studio analyst on the network’s pre- and postgame shows.

The animators at ESPN always cram a lot of detail into their Monday Night Football graphics, but even this is taking things a bit too far.

Earlier this month, during the the Seattle Seahawks’ home victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13, ESPN aired a graphic about the 2012 quarterback draft class to highlight the fact Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson wasn’t taken until the third round.

“It’s so good on so many levels,” play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore said of the graphic during the broadcast, which among other things featured undrafted Case Keenum standing in the background.

But the graphic also featured another quarterback taken that year in the third round — Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, who like Wilson is seated with a Lombardi Trophy. But upon closer examination by The Ringer’s Danny Heifetz, it appears ESPN’s graphics department incorporated the legend of Foles’ oversized anatomy in its graphic, reinforced by the former Eagles quarterback sitting bowlegged.

“I know nothing about any of that,” David Sparkgrove, ESPN’s creative director and the lead animator for Monday Night Football’s custom animations, said when asked about Foles’ anatomy. “No. Nothing. That one you’re reading into.”

• The Sixers will take on the the first place Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas at 2:30 p.m. on ABC. Ahead of the game at 2 p.m., NBA Countdown will feature a basketball-themed Christmas story told by Sixers star and resident trash-talker Joel Embiid. Expect at least one lighthearted jab at Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

» READ MORE: Even better version of Giannis Antetokounmpo awaits Sixers in Christmas Day game

• We still don’t know why Hall of Famer and former Eagles receiver Cris Carter was forced off his FS1 show First Things First. But according to Front Office Sports’ Mike McCarthy, the network is looking to replace him with former offensive lineman Damien Woody, who has been an NFL analyst on ESPN since 2011 and is often seen on their morning show Get Up!.

• Who said Eagles fans hate Joe Buck? The Fox Sports announcer, who was in Philly to call Sunday’s Eagles win over the Cowboys, found a young Birds fan named Brian who memorized Buck’s call of DeSean Jackson’s game-winning punt return against the New York Giants in 2015.

• You hate to see it, but former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was heckled by Eagles fans Sunday night while watching his Cowboys lose alongside owner Jerry Jones. A fan seated in section C17 at the Linc, who asked to remain anonymous, filmed the trash talking and said a friend was thrown out by security due to what he described as “profane language.”

“Christie didn’t directly interact with us because Jerry Jones didn’t grant him permission to speak at all,” the Eagles fan said.