Jeff Rickard comes to WEEI in Boston with a resume flush with sports media experience in arguably the most sports-obsessed city in the country. Most recently, he was the program director and a morning show host at WFNI in Indianapolis. The new brand manager for the iconic WEEI spoke with Alex Reimer of the station about his upcoming transition.
“It’s one of the great radio stations in the history of sports radio,” Rickard said. “It’s going to have a tremendous amount of backing with Audacy, and it has a complete list of teammates in front of the microphone and behind the microphone who are going to be really committed to it — like, really committed to it. That’s what attracted me. I was happy where I was, but EEI is a different level.”
Coming to Boston from Indianapolis is a move that sees two franchises to get over the ghosts of historic quarterbacks come and gone. There is some bad blood between the two, however, as the Indianapolis Colts were famously the whistleblowers that started the “Deflategate” scandal centering around Tom Brady when he was a New England Patriot.
“Anybody can ask me: I think it was the dumbest thing in the history of sports,” Rickard said. “In any normal circumstance, altering the football is a $25,000 fine, and you move on. But it became a players’ association vs. NFL battle that nearly went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of in my life.”
Rickard had an engaged audience in Indianapolis, and he has seen his fair share across stops at ESPN Radio, Mad Dog Sports Radio, and NFL Radio. Still, he knows that going into WEEI, the city of Boston, and the community of greater New England will be an adjustment, though one he appears to be more than ready.
“What I will tell you is, as I’ve gotten older, I don’t know if I’m the biggest sports fan in the world — I still love sports — but as a radio guy, I’m a fan of the Boston sports fan,” he said. “I love that people melt down during a three-game losing streak. I love that they think they have the greatest team in the world after a four-game winning streak. I love it. It doesn’t get any better than that.”