Giants radio analyst Carl Banks resigns from weekly WFAN appearance after spat with Sal Licata and Brandon Tierney
Carl Banks attends SiriusXM At Super Bowl LVII on February 10, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. Credit: Getty Images for SiriusXM
Carl Banks has resigned from his weekly midday appearance on WFAN in the wake of a contentious appearance last week.
Hosts Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata announced Banks’ decision on the air on Wednesday, with both saying they had spoken to Banks before he made his final decision.
On Oct. 25, Banks sought to defend the Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux as Licata and Tierney criticized the production of the second-year defensive lineman.
After some spirited back-and-forth, Licata said he had heard enough and told his producer to drop Banks from the call, which he did.
Four days later, Thibodeaux had three sacks in the Giants’ 13-10 overtime loss to the Jets.
On Wednesday, Licata explained Banks’ absence from the show.
“Usually in this spot, we have Carl Banks on,” Licata said. “Last week we had a testy debate with Carl. Right on the air afterwards, I came on and apologized for the way that it ended, kind of cutting Carl short there after 20 minutes.
“I called him during the week and also apologized. He said all was good. But Carl just doesn’t want to do the spot anymore moving forward, so we move on.”
Said Tierney: “Listen, things are going to 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 with the Thibodeaux stuff.
“When things go awry, sometimes as they do, you’ve got to own it. And I think we did. And I think Carl did as well.”
Longtime football writer Gary Myers reported on “X” on Wednesday night that WFAN sought to change Banks’ mind but failed to do so.
Tierney said he spoke to Banks for about 15 minutes on Tuesday.
“I wanted to reiterate that I’ve known him for a long time,” Tierney said. “This is important, because I don’t like the perception, certainly for me as a person, us as a show, that we’re ever in the business of doing good people wrong. That’s not our M.O.
“Carl’s a great guy. He’s been a part of the station for a long time. It’s not going to continue with us, and we respect that.”
Banks, a two-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker for the Giants, is the Giants’ radio game analyst on WFAN. On Wednesday, he was at MetLife Stadium for a news conference promoting the Feb. 17-18 NHL games that will be held there.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
