Besides his role in The Dictator and Pineapple Express, stand-up comedian Bobby Lee is best known these days for his podcast, TigerBelly, which he co-hosts with Khalyla Khun. Peter Crouch, meanwhile, is somewhat of a cult figure in the football world, making waves these days by sharing stories from his playing days on his podcast – That Peter Crouch Podcast.
If you use YouTube Shorts regularly you might have seen both of these figures pop up on your screen; the former frequently trends for his hilarious takes on various subjects and the latter still amazes football fans with old clips of his incredible goals.
Considering the genres of their works not many expect to see both Lee and Crouch in the same video. But ‘height’ transcends both football and comedy, and the discussion of the subject led to an interesting crossover.
During his podcasts, Lee rarely shies from making self-deprecating jokes and he and his guests consistently talk about his height (5′ 4″). In this instance, the 51-year-old brought up Crouch’s height to make a point about how being tall works in someone’s favour.
Lee said: “When you are tall, people can do anything. You know who Peter Crouch is. He was an English soccer player. He’s retired now. But see how tall Crouch is.”
“I’ll just show you. This will explain. Just here’s a photo of him golfing. Okay oh my god, you see that. Peter Crouch. Yeah, and he was like he did one of the best bicycle kicks. He’s done [scored] so many tremendous goals in his lifetime.”
Like in real life, being tall is regarded as a good trait to have in football, and Crouch’s height certainly played a big role in some of his most memorable goals at Liverpool and Stoke City. But things weren’t always as rosy – both on and off the pitch – for the 6ft 7in striker.
“I was always ‘lanky hitman’ or ‘beanpole striker’,” the former England international said. “I was never just ‘Peter Crouch’.”
Crouch, akin to Lee’s podcasts, dealt with the issue well and humorously. His height did help him score goals – more headers (56) than any other player in Premier League history – but it’s important to note that it also overshadowed his other qualities, with most fans attributing his success to how tall he is rather than how hard he worked during his playing days.
When things didn’t work for his team, the ‘lanky’ forward was an easy target in post-match analysis. Even in Lee’s observation in that specific viral video, the only reason Crouch is being talked about is his stature rather than his ability to score goals with brilliantly-timed runs and jumps and impeccable ball striking.
The same thing happens these days with the likes of Harry Maguire and Romelu Lukaku. Due to their unorthodox body shape and movement, both are judged more harshly than their teammates for the same mistakes and when they do something good: win duels or score headers, their physique gets the credit rather than the skill required to execute those actions.