David Feherty laughed at the notion.
Monday morning, I asked him: “When you were growing up in Northern Ireland during all the troubles, did you ever imagine you would interview a former U.S. President who helped negotiate a peace deal?”
“I never thought about it,” Feherty said. “It just shows the six degrees of separation, right?”
It also shows how far Feherty has come not only as a broadcast personality, but as a person. Monday night, the former assistant pro from Northern Ireland has a very personal interview with Bill Clinton on the latest episode of Feherty (10 p.m. ET, the Golf Channel). Don’t worry if you miss it, because the program will re-air about a million times.
Feherty hardly does his Wolf Blitzer impression in probing the former president. As you would expect, the approach is uniquely Feherty right from the opening question.
“What the hell possessed you to do this interview?” Feherty said.
Clinton replied that he likes Feherty and the show. And he isn’t just giving lip service about the show. During the interview, Clinton references a Feherty episode on Sergio Garcia.
Typically, the interview veers into golf and gets loose at times. Noting Clinton’s gray hair, Feherty wonders if there is a “Grecian Formula 5000 for former presidents.”
The interview, though, does have some serious moments. He talks to Clinton about Northern Ireland, a subject close to Feherty’s heart. And there’s a poignant moment in which Clinton discusses making decisions on sending soldiers into battle. He said he always asked his advisors, “Can I kill them (the enemy) tomorrow?” Clinton hoped one more day of talk would result in a peaceful settlement.
Here’s my Q/A with Feherty about the interview and what it meant to him:
How did the interview come about?
Feherty: We both have a mutual friend by the name of Norman. Greg made a call for me, and the next thing I knew I heard from his people. It took a while, but it was Greg who helped get it done.
Were you nervous prior to the interview?
Feherty: I’m nervous, not because of the subject, but because of the concept. I don’t want to do something that’s been beaten to death. That’s one of the reasons why I don’t want to interview Tiger Woods at the moment. That would make me nervous. I don’t want to get the same, predictable answers.
I might take some flak for not (asking Clinton) about Lewinsky. My view at the time was, ‘Do I really need some self-righteous, conservative Christian attorney spending $42 million of taxpayer money to answer a question that has no bearing on the running of this country?’
Haven’t we heard enough about it? It would be like me asking Tiger Woods one more question about the fire hydrant. If anybody’s upset that I didn’t ask Clinton (about Lewinsky), that’s the sort of person I’m trying to upset.
What was it like to interview Clinton?
Feherty: He’s the kind of person who makes you feel like you’re the only person in his world. You’ve got 100 percent of his attention at that moment. It’s a tremendous talent and a nice character trait.
There was a personal moment when you asked him about Northern Ireland. What was that like for you?
Feherty: I was an assistant in Northern Ireland in the war zone. The sheer idiocy of it all. I watched troops on the street fight an enemy that didn’t wear uniforms who hid behind women and children.
Here was Clinton, who had enough problems of his own, getting interested in brokering an agreement between two warring factions thousands of miles away. It showed a great generosity of spirit.
How did you view his response to your questions about golf?
Feherty: I think he has that roguish ‘one of the boys’ sense of fun. He doesn’t take the game too seriously. It’s a diversion. The witch hunters criticized him because he would drop a ball or take a ‘Billigan.’ But he wasn’t playing for the club championship. The guys he was playing with would do the same thing. But there weren’t photographers taking pictures of them. He plays the way I play, if I still played.
How do you think people will view this interview?
Feherty: My objective for this show is not for people to go, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that.’ That’s always nice, but I want people to come away knowing more about the person and why they are the way they are.
With Clinton, so many people have an embedded dislike and self-righteous sort of anger toward him. I wanted to show more of the human side of him. He is incredibly generous, and he might be the smartest man I ever met.
Outside of Gary McCord, right?
Feherty: Of course.
What did it mean to you to land an interview with a former president?
Feherty: One of the reasons why I was sitting in front of a former president is that 5 1/2 years ago when I decided to become (an American citizen), I thought I did not want to be another fucked up American (Feherty confronted his alcoholism). We have a quota of those, and many of them appear to be running for office.
It makes me feel good that somebody I genuinely admire wanted to come on our show and he watches our show. That’s one more episode than I’ve watched. It can’t watch it. It’s too creepy.
ESPN went 1 for 2 Tuesday.
