Mike Francesa calls out Max Kellerman for WFAN lies and reveals why he stopped talking to him

Another sports personality has punched back at “Muhammad Kellerman.”Just days after Stephen A.Smith spurned former “First Take” partner Max Kellerman for his explosive tell-all interview on the “Bill Simmons Podcast,” Mike Francesca rebuffed Kellerman’s claim that he was in line to join the radio host at WFAN following his split from “Mike and the Mad Dog.” Speaking with Simmons, Kellerman professed that joining forces with Chris Russo was “the plan” and that he had seemingly been hand-picked to become his new partner — then concluded that Francesca went solo after realizing he didn’t need to welcome a co-host. During a Tuesday taping of his BetRivers podcast, the 71-year-old sports personality clapped back at Kellerman for what he deemed a deeply distorted recollection of events.“It’s completely untrue,” said the New York sports radio icon.

“There’s not a word of truth to that.When Dog left, [WFAN program director Mark] Chernoff wanted me to sit down, take time, and meet a lot of people.

We got hundreds of calls, hundreds, as you can imagine.I mean out of the woodwork, people I didn’t even know.”Ironically, Francesca asserted that the first person he called about joining him in New York was the man interviewing Kellerman: Bill Simmons. Nevertheless, The Ringer founder — who said during his chat with Kellerman that he received the call — quickly shut down the idea due to a lack of interest, given his firm placement in Los Angeles and unwavering fandom for Boston sports. “The truth of the matter is, going back to the beginning, the first person I ever talked to, believe it or not, was Bill Simmons.

Now, I called Bill and I said, ‘Bill, I got an idea.’ And he said, ‘I have no interest.It’s not what I want to do with my life, I appreciate it, I don’t even want to discuss it.’ So we didn’t even discuss it.

He was the first person I talked to.He might not even remember that, but I do.

Because I made the...