Quinnen Williams and Jim Rome had seemingly clashing interview intentions, so much so the former ESPN host erupted into a rant afterwards.
The Jets defensive lineman appeared on “The Jim Rome Show” on Friday to promote College Colors Day, which is a celebration of the sport led by sports licensing brand Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC).
According to Rome, Williams, who played for Alabama, was late for the interview and would refuse to steer away from the College Colors promotion throughout his guest appearance.
When asked for his thoughts on quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the two-time Pro Bowler gave a short answer.
“He’s an amazing person, man. But I am just here to speak on College Colors Day,” stated Williams.
In frustration, Rome ended the interview after just a minute long conversation and decided to go into a heated monologue about Williams’ “bad, bad form,” his representatives, and the Jets for the remaining four minutes.
“Do you really think that I would bring you on this show only to talk about your product?” Rome said. “Do you think I care that much about that product? Or even at all? Come on and just get a bunch of free advertising that other people pay for. My guy, that’s not how that’s done. Without totally losing it and going off, I want to reiterate, great player and really good dude, very poor execution.”
He additionally noted that even when asked about the College Colors Day, Williams didn’t give a very detailed or insightful response.
“If you’re not going to talk about anything but the pitch, which is already bad, bad form, when I get to the pitch, you should at least be ready to talk about the pitch,” Rome said. “Jets gonna Jet. I hate that. That’s such a bad experience, because I had such a good experience with him the last time I spoke with him. And I know that’s a good dude. That’s a great player and a good dude who just had a really bad appearance on ‘The Jungle.’”
Rome also proceeded to give advice to any professional athlete or celebrity marketing representatives about pitching and negotiating interviews.
“Memo to everyone who’s got a pitch, you’ve gotta play some ball,” Rome explained. “You cannot come on to pitch something, and then when I ask you something about your team, in a short segment, by the way that you’re late for … if I ask you about your teammate, you can’t shake me off and say, ‘yeah but I’m not here to talk about that, I’m here to talk about this.’ I know very well what you’re here to talk about, and I always get to it.”
Williams, 26, is set to start his sixth year with the Jets and will look to chase down a third consecutive Pro Bowl nod.
Last season, Williams recorded 5.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, an interception for six yards, and a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
