Defending Joe Buck is easy; changing detractors’ minds is hard

I like Joe Buck.

For those of you who haven’t either stopped reading or smashed your screen into smithereens, thank you. For those of you who have, well, you’re not reading beyond this point anyway, so carry on with your ignorant, misguided existence.

The grief Buck has taken in his 25 years since joining Fox has been so off the charts, it’s a wonder he hasn’t moved to a less public line of work or just gone into hiding. He has been derided for his appearance, his lineage and, of course, his broadcasting.

But on Sunday, he’ll be on your TV, calling Super Bowl LIV between the 49ers and Chiefs. He and Troy Aikman will work their sixth Super Bowl together. The duo is the second-longest-tenured NFL broadcast team behind Pat Summerall and John Madden.

Apparently, familiarity breeds contempt among viewers. If polling numbers existed for Buck’s popularity, they’d probably come in right below those of NFL officials. Look at social media, and you’ll have a hard time finding a pro-Buck audience. The reasons are ridiculous:

He hates my team

No, he doesn’t. It only sounds like he hates your team because he’s not rooting for your team. He’s a national broadcaster who has to call games down the middle. Sure, his voice will rise if something compelling happens, but don’t take it personally if that something goes against your team.

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The perception at times has been so bad that fans have petitioned Fox to remove Buck from the broadcast of their team’s games. Packers fans assembled during the playoffs in the 2016 season, to no avail. Chiefs fans figure to have it in for Buck after a perceived bias against the Royals in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series. (Buck has called every World Series since 2000.)

Buck was effusive — and rightfully so — in his praise of Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who worked a masterful five innings in relief to hold a one-run lead in a 3-2 victory. When the Royals returned to the World Series in 2015, fans petitioned to have Buck replaced. It didn’t work.

He’s riding his father’s coattails

There’s an element to this that’s true. Buck has readily admitted the benefits of being Jack Buck’s son. Jack called St. Louis Cardinals games from 1954 to 2000. Joe, born in 1969, was practically raised in the broadcast booth. He started calling Cardinals games at 21. That doesn’t happen without genetics.

Tom Gannam/AP

But Joe wouldn’t be where he is if he couldn’t do the job. He had an exceptional teacher in his father, who was well known nationally for radio and TV work. This Super Bowl has incredible symmetry in that, as CBS announcer Jim Nantz eloquently pointed out after the AFC Championship Game, Joe will call the Chiefs 50 years after his father did in Super Bowl IV, Jack’s only TV appearance in a Super Bowl.

If you want to nitpick, for all the big events Joe has called, he’s missing an “I don’t believe what I just saw” or a “Go crazy” from his father’s playlist. Joe’s most memorable call is one he shared with his father — and took some grief for, of course — “We will see you tomorrow night” after David Freese’s homer in Game 6 pushed the 2011 World Series to Game 7. Jack spoke those words after Kirby Puckett did the same in 1991.

Joe’s call is one of my favorites. The drama and nostalgia hit me every time. If that remains his most famous call, I’m sure he’d be fine with it. He knows where he came from, and he’s appreciative of the opportunities it gave him.

He’s a bad broadcaster

It’s outrageous that a broadcaster could summon the wrath from an audience that Buck does. Howard Cosell might have been the last broadcaster able to do that, but he was brash and opinionated. Buck is neither. He isn’t flashy, he does his homework and he doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Buck is understated in his call of a game. He knows the viewers see exactly what’s happening, so he lets the game play out and adds perspective. He’s adept at setting up situations and leading his analyst into a conversation.

But there’s a side of Buck that people don’t seem to be aware of. The man is an open book, literally. In “Lucky Bastard,” published in 2016, he goes into detail about his personal and professional foibles. If you listen to him being interviewed on radio shows or podcasts, you’d get the sense that he’s humble, down-to-earth and self-aware. It makes him relatable, and it might make his detractors less annoyed.

There’s no doubt, though, that they’ll be out in full force on Sunday, particularly the keyboard warriors on Twitter. And Buck, whose handle is @Buck, could see it all if he wants to.

It’s just a shame that it’s there.