Giants legend Carl Banks deserved a lot more than the disrespect he received after an ugly clash with hosts Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata.
Banks has resigned from his role on WFAN’s midday show after clashing with Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata last week. The standoff came about after the co-hosts heavily criticized Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux.
“He stinks, dude. There’s nothing about his game that jumps out to me,” Licata said. “His body looks awkward (and) he’s not fast.”
Banks would call into the show the following day and the trio would speak for roughly 20 minutes. The conversation would become heated before Licata screamed for his producers to hang up on Banks.
“If it’s not your job to find out what the kid does right, then it should not be your job to call him a bust,” Banks said after blasting the hosts’ “weird” and “unhealthy obsession for finding what is wrong with Kayvon Thibodeaux.”
“I can’t take it anymore. Pull him down, seriously. We have to have a voice here and I appreciate the time Carl, thank you,” Licata said as the call ended.
It was truly a stunning moment.
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WFAN attempted to smooth things over with Banks, but he ultimately felt too disrespected to return and terminated his role.
On Wednesday, Licata and Tierney addressed Banks’ resignation.
“Usually in this spot, we have Carl Banks on. Last week we had a testy debate with Carl. Right on the air afterward, I came on and apologized for the way that it ended, kind of cutting the call short there after 20 minutes,” Licata said, via the New York Post. “I also called him during the week, and also apologized. He said all was good. But Carl just doesn’t want to do the spot anymore, so we move on.”
“Yeah, we move on,” Tierney added.
Tierney says he spoke to Banks on Tuesday and they had a “great talk” but the two-time Super Bowl champion would not be returning to their show.
“Listen, things are gonna happen in this medium, when you bring a lot of passion to a topic, as certainly we did that day, and hopefully every day. And Carl did that day. When things go awry, as they sometimes do, you gotta own it. And I think we did. And I think Carl did as well,” Tierney said.
Banks has been the Giants lead radio analyst since 2007 and he’s been a weekly guest on various WFAN shows for most of that tenure.
As a New York Giants legend, fans were quick to stand up for the two-time Super Bowl champ, while bashing Licata and Tierney:
The Giants are in the midst of a terrible 2023 campaign that has them in dead last in the NFC east with a 2-6 record.
