Chris Christie Among Candidates to Replace Mike Francesa on WFAN

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is being considered for sports radio host Mike Francesa's post on WFAN when the longtime broadcaster retires.  

"I would certainly at least want to consider him," WFAN program director Mark Chernoff told Dustin Racioppi of The Record. "If he's interested and we're interested, it's worth pursuing."

Christie, 54, has been New Jersey's governor since 2010. Having already won two terms, he may not run again in the 2017 race. Christie has expressed an interest in sports broadcasting.

Francesa, a mainstay in New York radio and one of its most colorful sports personalities, announced he will retire at the end of 2017. Mike and the Mad Dog, which Francesa co-hosted with Chris Russo, ran on WFAN from 1989 to 2008. Francesa has continued to host a solo show on the network since Russo left for SiriusXM.

Filling Francesa's shoes would be a difficult task for any veteran radio broadcaster. It may prove near-impossible for Christie, who is widely viewed as one of the nation's least popular politicians. Christie's approval rating shows just 17 percent of New Jersey residents are satisfied with his job performance, per a Quinnipiac poll cited on WDEL.com.  

The latter portion of Christie's tenure in office has been shrouded in controversy, most notably the so-called "Bridgegate" scandal and his support of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Christie seems nonetheless confident that he could transition into a sports-oriented role when his political career ends.

"As my son said—he said, I can't believe I've been listening to you talk about sports my entire life and that someone might actually pay you to do that. He said, I can't imagine how great that would be for you," Christie said on SNY cable network last week, per Racioppi. "And so, yeah, that's certainly one of the things that I hope I'll have a chance to consider when I get out and stop being governor."

Christie is a well-known sports fan who supports the New York Mets and Dallas Cowboys. He is also a supporter of state-sanctioned sports gambling, attempting to push legislation through that would make it legal in Atlantic City.