In Musburger’s mind, McCarron deserves a shot

A fixture for nearly 50 years at CBS and ABC/ESPN before stepping away from the microphone after calling the Georgia-Kentucky basketball game Jan. 31 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Musburger now lives in Las Vegas and works with the new Vegas Stats & Information Network that serves gamblers.

With NFL training camps about a month from kickoff, and college football getting ready to crank up, he visited recently with SECcountry.com, which covers teams in the nation’s most prominent conference, and -- as always -- had plenty to say.

Musburger got an eyeful of McCarron while behind the mic for the 2013 BCS national championship game, as the Crimson Tide drilled Notre Dame 42-14 with A.J. under center.

"I hope that A.J. gets a chance to play," Musburger told SECcountry.com. "I thought he was very good when he filled in, when [Cincinnati quarterback Andy] Dalton was hurt in the [2015 NFL] playoffs. Of all the guys that are out there – I know there's a heavy media following for [Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy] Garoppolo, probably because ESPN is close to Boston.

“But I’ve got to tell you something, A.J. McCarron will be someone, if I needed a quarterback, that I’d take a long look at. He’s been around. He has handled himself really well. You hear no controversy, and he has stepped in. And if his middle linebacker hadn’t gone brain dead that day, they would have beaten Pittsburgh [in the playoffs]. [Vontaze] Burfict went nuts. A.J. would have beaten them. So I think he’s deserving of a chance.”,

Well, whatever. Burfict has more than 63,000 Twitter followers @King55Tez.

Musburger still appreciates Webb, whom he spoke highly of during that BCS broadcast, calling Webb "beautiful" and a "lovely lady" on the air after he spotted her in the stands. Soon thereafter, Webb became a Twitter sensation @_KatherineWebb , before becoming McCarron's better half. She has more than 300,000 followers.

It’s worth reading Musburger’s recall of the reaction to his commentary, as he remains miffed that folks found his comments that evening to be anything but down the middle. He still has a lot to say, and if somebody puts a mic in front of him, Musburger’s going to talk. And talk. And talk some more.