IT appears Molly Qerim has the ability to get everyone, including “Mr. CIA,” to talk.
Qerim, 39, and co-host Stephen A. Smith, 55, were back together in the studio once more on Friday hosting First Take on ESPN.
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Kicking off the second half an hour, they introduced reporter Kimberley A. Martin, and former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum – or “Mr. CIA” as Smith called him.
“This is Mr. CIA right here,” Smith said.
He explained that in twelve years’ worth of interviews with Tannenbaum, who he described as “eloquent, and brilliant in his delivery,” he never got much out of the former New York Jets general manager.
Smith added that “you walk away saying ‘what the hell did he just say? He didn’t tell me anything.'”
Qerim intervened, commenting that “That’s not the Mike T I know” before adding with a sly wink: “You know what’s so funny is we started working together at NFL Network and he tells me everything so I don’t know what that says.”
However, Smith needn’t fear as it seems it wasn’t just him Tannenbaum wouldn’t reveal anything to, with Martin adding that “he didn’t tell me nothing either.”
With 21 years in NFL front offices, Tannenbaum is most well known for his time with the Jets and as executive vice president of football operations for the Miami Dolphins.
In an interview with The U.S. Sun prior to the NFL Draft in April, he spoke about some of his experiences during drafts gone by while a front office member.
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Tannenbaum singled out Laremy Tunsil, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Darrell Revis, and Minkah Fitzpatrick as some of his bigger draft successes.
However, he admitted that not all were hits, with one such miss being defensive end Vernon Gholston.
Tannenbaum explained: “That was disappointing.
“He was a great person, but we asked him to do things he didn’t do in college in the pro level, and that unfortunately didn’t work out, and that was a good lesson.”
Tannenbaum also called Tunsil’s draft day slide “maybe the craziest single moment in the history of the draft.”
He explained that Tunsil “was the number one guy on our board and he had a gas mask video, and we drafted him at thirteen.
“He was the best player in the draft. He’s still at the top of the market as a left tackle and our preparation.
“We had eleven months of information on him. He was a great kid, great relationship with his mom, great teammate at Ole Miss.
“All those things were fantastic. So we use that preparation to take advantage of an opportunity that literally was unfolding in front of the entire nation.”
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