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AJ McCarron’s Girlfriend Was Not Troubled By Brent Musburger’s Creeping

By now you’ve probably heard about Brent Musburger’s comments regarding AJ McCarron’s girlfriend, Katherine Webb, during the BCS national title game between Alabama and Notre Dame. You probably heard about the significant backlash to these comments (backlash that was probably much stronger than it would have been had the game itself provided anything worth talking about), which led ESPN to apologize on Musburger’s behalf. And now, thanks to an interview on NBC’s Today from this morning, we know what Webb herself thought of the hubbub. And… she didn’t think anything Musburger said was that big a deal:

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After going back and watching the original video again… Webb’s right that what Brent said could have been creepier (if he actually had said “sexy” or “hot,” there’d be a lot action from ESPN than an apology, most likely). And if she was okay with it, who am I to tell her not to be? But personally, it got to be a bit much for me right around the time Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit started exchanging “Wow!”s. Herbstreit doesn’t even have the “oh he’s just a harmless old guy” excuse going for him. When it got there and Musburger stil kept going, the segment reached cringe territory, at least for me.

But it didn’t for Webb – nor, it seems, for McCarron. He was asked about the controversy on ESPN Radio’s Waddle and Silvy, and via Sports Radio Interviews, here’s what he had to say:

On Brent Musburger commenting on his girlfriend during the game:

“I [heard] that he was pretty mesmerized, some people were saying.”

His reaction after hearing Musburger’s comments:

[Joking] “I’m gonna have to tell Musburger he’s going to have to step back next time.”

Of course, Musburger is going to have to step back next time, considering his employer had to apologize for him. ESPN would rather not be in that position again, I’d bet. And even if you’re like Webb and don’t think Musburger said anything warranting an apology, there are worse precedents to set than making announcers think twice before drooling over ladies in the stands, no?

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