Dad weighs on mind of ESPN’s Salisbury

Joe Davidson, Sacramento Bee

Published January 29, 2007 at midnight

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Sean Salisbury went to Southern Cal a generation ago to play quarterback and to study to become a dentist. His father, Richard, had other visions.

That Sean has found such a blissful comfort zone with ESPN — he’s everywhere on TV, radio and online — proved the old man was onto something.

"My dad was blue collar, and I was never a kid who wanted to do plaster and things like that, so he thought I’d better go white collar," Salisbury said the other day speaking by phone in a cab on his way to the airport. "He said if I can’t get it done with my arm in the NFL, then do it with my mouth."

And it’s a mouth that roars. Salisbury is our choice as the best NFL analyst on the air. He’s high-energy but an easy listen. He’s well-informed and gives biting opinion. He’s as polished and entertaining on radio as he is on TV, which can be rare. And you might even notice his shorter-than-normal hair.

It’s in honor of his father, possibly the toughest 66-year-old around, who is facing lung cancer. And what troubles Sean the most is his father never smoked. It appears the 14 months Richard worked in an asbestos plant 40 years ago caught up with him. Richard is undergoing chemotherapy, keeping his radio and TV tuned to his son for company.

"I cut the hair to let my dad know I’m thinking of him," Salisbury said. "It’s been hard. He’s been my inspiration, my best friend. He’s the most ‘studly’ guy, the greatest father, the greatest husband, toughest man — everything — that I’ve ever known."

Here’s tough: Salisbury said his dad could still leg press 600 pounds a half-dozen times, and bench press 325 pounds 16 times before asking for a towel. He set an age-group state record in Nevada by putting an 11-pound shot 43 feet this fall, weeks before learning of his cancer. So these days, Salisbury works a tireless schedule as always. He’s in his 11th season with ESPN, bouncing across the country from one gig to the next, with his cell phone close to keep in touch with his father.

"I love what I’m doing," Salisbury said. "Any broadcaster who complains about what they do should be grabbed by the nape of the neck and told they’re crazy."

Salisbury has been called worse, and he has defended himself against any accusations that he made an anti-Semitic comment on last Monday’s "NFL Live" when he used an unintelligible word that sounded like "Jew." ESPN executives agreed no slurs were used.

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