Sports

Chris Christie is on WFAN’s radar as the next Mike Francesa

New York sports fans, especially those from New Jersey, may want to start preparing themselves for more years of Chris Christie.

WFAN program director Mike Chernoff revealed the New Jersey governor is one of “plenty of candidates” to take over for the radio station’s iconic sports-talk host, Mike Francesa, who plans to step away on Dec. 15 after a 30-year career.

“I would certainly at least want to consider him,” Chernoff told NorthJersey.com this week. “If he’s interested and we’re interested, it’s worth pursuing.”

Christie’s interest in the radio gig could be piquing with each position he says he turns down in Donald Trump’s administration. Christie, a friend of the president’s, said last month he found none of Trump’s offers “exciting enough” to leave his governorship and his wife, Mary Pat, who warned him she wouldn’t follow him to Washington if he accepted.

The Republican, who has held his current post since 2010, has shown an affinity for sports radio over the years. Christie, 54, has often been on Francesa’s show and has made 10 appearances on WFAN’s “Boomer & Carton” program since last year, catching the attention of several sports figures — though not always for good reasons.

Mike FrancesaGetty Images

He mocked Ben McAdoo’s haircut in December, which prompted the Giants coach to grab a T-shirt with a picture of his face and the caption, “Benny With The Good Hair.” And just last week, Christie, an outspoken Mets fan, elicited a hateful response from Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney when he called Phillies fans “angry, awful people” whose stadium is “not safe for civilized people.”

With Christie’s term ending three weeks after Francesa’s departure, the chances of him turning his hobby into a career are growing. Even Francesa has hinted at the transition.

“I think that’s actually a possibility,” Francesa told a caller during a show in June. “I think he’d be interested.”

As for Francesa, he said fans can expect to hear him on the airwaves as early as Jan. 3, 2018, in his new role, though he refused to reveal the details.

“You will hear my voice. How’s that?” he told his former co-host, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, on Feb. 2. “I’m not promising it’ll be conventional. It might be a little something new.”