The sports radio talk show host Mike Francesa - who appeared to take a brief nap while conducting an interview on Monday on WFAN-AM in New York - said on Thursday that while he had been tired from getting no sleep the night before, he had not actually fallen asleep while talking to Sweeny Murti, who covers the Yankees for the station.
Those who watched the simulcast of the show on the YES Network, or the video that has spread virally (more than 250,000 views), saw Mr. Francesa's head droop toward his right until his chin appeared to rest on his chest. He appeared to be sleeping, or simply to have turned very quiet. Then, as if stunned to wakefulness, his head whipped back up and his eyes were suddenly wide open, looking as if he had just dozed off while watching a ball game, suddenly awoke and then told his wife he had not fallen asleep.
Mr. Francesa's eyes were not visible to the YES camera, so ascertaining if he was in a REM state was impossible.
But Mr. Francesa did say that he had had a long Sunday: he rose at 6 a.m., did his National Football League show on WFAN and watched the games through the evening. But he was then up all night taking care of his son Jack's asthma. “As the weather changes, he has exercise-induced asthma,†Mr. Francesa, who is 58, said during the show.
“I was dragging during the show,†he said. His exhaustion led him to close his eyes as he spoke to Mr. Murti, something he has said he has done many times in the past. But, he insisted, “You can listen to the interview. I was never asleep.†He vowed “never to close my eyes again or come in without sleep.â€
He called the nap flap “nonsense,†and said that he had not been going to address it until his wife, Rose, and Mark Chernoff, WFAN's operations manager, urged him to explain what happened.
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