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Emmanuel Acho, Doug Gottlieb Get In Twitter Fight Over Sam Acho’s Top 5 QB List
“You got a real slick mouth for being a back up on the court and on television, you got to pick a struggle.”
Doug Gottlieb can’t seem to avoid Fox vs. Fox clashes this week. Days after telling listeners that Rob Parker blocked him on Twitter, Gottlieb got into a nasty Twitter exchange with Emmanuel Acho on Thursday.
The spat began with Emmanuel’s brother, Sam, appearing on ESPN’s First Take to give his ranking of the current top five quarterbacks in the NFL. Acho’s list caused a stir on social media for not including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on his list. You can watch the segment below.
Among those who ripped Acho’s list was Gottlieb:
That didn’t go over well with Emmanuel, who not only responded to Gottlieb but also made it personal, insulting the Fox Sports Radio host’s basketball career and standing in the Fox hierarchy.
Naturally, Gottlieb did not let Acho’s tweet go unnoticed.
The back-and-forth continued with Acho also ripping his brother’s list, but defending him against Gottlieb’s criticism nonetheless. Oh, and trashing Gottlieb’s career again!
Gottlieb responded with an insult, probably thinking that was the last word.
Oh, but Acho ended up getting the last word here.
As often applies in sports media rumbles and Twitter spats, whose side you take or who you view as winning the slapfight is probably determined by who you like (or dislike less). Gottlieb began with a sharp elbow, but maybe took it a step over by questioning Sam Acho’s credentials. Did that warrant Emmanuel Acho responding with personal insults about Gottlieb’s basketball and broadcasting careers?
Could this result in Acho and Gottlieb being sent to the Fox Sports principal’s office? Probably not, since any publicity is good publicity. (And even if you disagreed with Sam Acho’s top five NFL QBs, it sure generated a lot of social media chatter. ESPN must love that.)
By the way, will Emmanuel go after Sam’s First Take sparring partner, Harry Douglas, next? Douglas said Acho was smoking “plant” — and some strong stuff, at that — with his list, as you can see above. The former NFL receiver did have a good career, playing nine years in the league and notching one 1,000-yard season. That’s more accomplished than either Acho brother’s NFL career, though Sam also played nine seasons.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.