Hebert Defends Obnoxious Behavior At BCS Postgame Presser

January 11th, 2012 11:57 AM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Schools: LSU
Tags: Bobby Hebert, Jarret Lee, Les Miles, Little League

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback and current radio talking head Bobby Hebert isn’t backing down from his boorish behavior at Les Miles’ postgame presser on Monday. As you’ve surely seen by now, Hebert — the father of Tiger O-lineman T-Bob Hebert — let loose with the kind of rant you’d expect to hear from a parent who’s mad his son doesn’t start in Little League. He wanted to know why Miles didn’t go to Jarret Lee. And why he didn’t throw deep. And why his play selection was… well, you get the point — there was no point. There was more gripe than question in his remarks.

And now he’s defended his actions:

“Come on, I’m not a journalist. I didn’t go to journalism school, and I don’t claim to be a journalist. The credentials that I have is that I played 15 years of pro football, and I know what it is to play quarterback.

I was like an extension of the fans that finally got into a press conference. Maybe I shouldn’t have given my opinion a couple of times. You are supposed to really ask a question and not give opinion, but the hell with it. What are they going to do, kick me out? So what?”

Well, uh, yeah. They should have thrown him out. On his ass.

If his only credentials are the fact that he played pro ball 20 years ago then I wonder who gave him a media credential to get into a working postgame press room in the first place. And if Hebert couldn’t carry himself in the same professional manner as those people who were working in the room, then he should have been shown the door.

Period.

Miles deserved better than to have an angry parent bark at him in front of rolling cameras. For his part, he handled the situation with patience and even attempted to give Hebert a reply to his rambling complaint.

The coach showed class. The ex-quarterback? He showed his ass.

(UPDATE — For what it’s worth, it doesn’t sound like Hebert will be getting any more postgame media credentials for a while.)

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15 comments

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Bob C

Spot-n comment, DavidS1983. Bobby Hebert's opinion carries as much weight as anyone in sports in the state of Louisiana. Would hate to have to explain to the people of Louisiana why Bobby was excluded from a Post-game LSU press-conference.

DavidS1983

Hebert has the most successful radio show in Louisiana. While not a journalist, that certainly makes him a member of the "media". It's not 1950 anymore, where the only legitimate media outlets are black and white broadsheets. Any human with a computer and internet connection can make their own blog and offer their opinion...that makes them media, by the definition of the word. The fact of the matter is that the overweight, poorly-dressed journalism students Class of 1980 aren't the only people capable of covering sports. I know there is a reflexive recoil by certain journalism types at the prospect of their stranglehold disappearing, but come on...it's 2012.

Further, I think Bobby Hebert is the perfect person to ask an LSU coach a QB question. He knows more about the position than some dope like Jimmy Hyams who probably played flute in the marching band instead of football. Most of the "mainstream media" would have just slurped the Mad Hatter up, "Golly shucks, Coach, what was the problem with the offense?". Boring. Hebert probably should've been less confrontational, but let's not act like it takes some kind of special insight or journalism degree to essentially say what everyone wants to..."You should've played Lee, moron".

"If his only credentials are the fact that he played pro ball 20 years ago...". Give me a break. That's more credentials than 95% of the rest of that room. What, exactly, are the qualifications to be a sports writer? Based on reading sports pages every day for the past 30 years, it's certainly not first-hand knowledge of an actual sport.

To criticize Bobby Hebert who, again, has the most popular media outlet in the entire state, for having the gall to ask a question in a press conference...that's ridiculous. I'd rather listen to anything he has to say than hear some "credentialed media member" like Erin Andrews get a 10-minute Sportscenter segment so that she can jump up and down because "I rode on the bus to NOLA with the team! And it was the FIRST bus!".

Real journalism indeed.

John at MrSEC moderator

DavidS1983...

Good stuff. Of course, this site isn't mainstream media. But we try to behave like it. And apparently that's the difference between us and Mr. Hebert. In that setting, no one from MrSEC.com would have made an idiot of himself by showing emotion over a game.

If you think he acted professionally with his long rant, then that's your prerogative. I can assure you someone in the room -- many, actually -- were going to ask Miles why he didn't go to Lee. They just weren't going to sound like they'd lost money on the game while ranting and rambling 'round their question.

John

Fayettechill14

@DavidS1983 I'm sorry, I don't know that I heard a question in that wacky Cajun rant. Maybe I missed it. I heard a sarcastic, backhanded question, but I don't think that qualifies as "real journalism."

Bob C

@Fayettechill14 @DavidS1983

Fayettechill14, perhaps you would care to lay out the rules of "real journalism" for us, as you understand them.

Fayettechill14

@Bob C @DavidS1983

Don't be an ass to a coach.

Do you not think Miles wanted to win a national championship as much as anyone? Are you so dull as to think that Miles is the bad guy? And do you think being disrespectful and going on a stupid rant is going to change ANYTHING about what happened? Do you think that Bobby Herbert is a better coach than Les Miles, that he knows something that Miles doesn't? I guess I wouldn't put it past LSU fans to think that way about their head coach.

If you're disappointed; fine, be disappointed. But don't attack the head coach like HE'S the bad guy.

DavidS1983

@Fayettechill14 His question was "Why didn't you play Jarrett Lee?". Of course he could've found a better, more direct, more respectful way to ask it. But you have to remember who the audience is. Who is reading about that press conference? LSU fans. Who wants to know why they didn't play Lee? LSU fans. Whose opinion do LSU fans seem to covet the most? Bobby Hebert.

Bob C

I agree with the thrust of your article. No one should be insulting at a post game Q/A session. The man felt bad enough as it was. However, if one insulting rant can derail the session and prevent questions which need to be asked, what is the value of it?

Bob C

Someone needed to ask the question. As well as why LSU failed to try any misdirection plays to take advantage of Alabama's over-pursuit. LSU seemed to have a very limited assortment of plays and decided to lose with that. Unfathomable.

John at MrSEC moderator

Bob C...

And someone would have asked that question... without the insulting rant of Hebert.

John

Bob C

@John at MrSEC

Unfortunately, you posted something of a rant on Bobby Hebert, which will likely cost you a bevy of friends in his state.

John at MrSEC moderator

Bob C...

And that's why you wouldn't have been in the presser. Everyone in the media knows you do NOT root for a team from the pressbox and you do NOT act like a fan in press conferences.

Hebert doing so would be akin to a doctor showing up for work in clown shoes. Some might think it's fine and dandy, but the doc would lose a lot more credibility than he gained, I can assure you of that.

John

Bob C

@John at MrSEC

I'm probably not well-adjusted, because my reaction would have likely been similar to Hebert's. Miles is paid millions per year to put a viable team on the field. Although I like him, in that respect he failed miserably in the biggest game. It was the most embarrassing and inexplicable display I can ever remember. Too bad his O/C was not sitting beside him to help field such questions.

John at MrSEC moderator

Bob C...

I'm not worried about that. He acted poorly in a professional setting and he took his anger out on a coach who deserved better. Period.

Unlike a lot of sites, we don't write things just to make people happy or mad. We write what we believe to be true. So if that ticks some people off from time to time, fine.

I personally don't think any rational, well-adjusted adult can defend Hebert's reaction in that setting as being anything other than juvenile.

John

Fayettechill14

I guess Herbert was thinking that putting Jarrett Lee in would magically help the line give the QB time to block and magically get WRs open down the field.

How does that famous quote go? "When the team is losing, the fans' favorite player is the backup QB"?

LSU had way more offensive issues than their QB on Monday night. Some of that blame belongs to Les Miles, but to suggest that Jefferson was blowing a chance to win the game is pretty foolish.

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