Famous for being supremely dedicated to the power and might of the gridiron, NFL coaches tend to go a bit overboard from time to time when they are asked to contextualize the importance of football compared to other things in their lives. They’re actually kind of famous for how important football is to them.
This year, Giants head coach Joe Judge is translating that mentality to the holiday season. When he was asked this morning on Good Morning Football about what it meant to be playing on Christmas Day against the Ravens, Judge went full scrooge.
“With all due respect to Christmas, we’ve gotta forget about Christmas for a little while and focus on the Ravens,” Judge told the show’s hosts.
“Look, with all due respect to Christmas….”
Joe Judge delivers the coal in your stocking!@gmfb @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/e1jCFswpja
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 23, 2020
The Giants are still in contention for the NFC East title or a wildcard berth, so Judge’s focus is warranted, but still pretty hilarious.
While Judge is in good company among coaches in his steadfast commitment to Playing Football, the first-year head coach ensured with this quote that he goes down in history. There’s just nothing like starting a sentence with the phrase “with all due respect to Christmas.” If you find yourself having to set aside a few words for quite literally the most important day of the year for millions of people around the world, it may be an indication that you’ve gone a bit too far with your football-ism.