Booger McFarland reveals biggest regret as ESPN ‘Monday Night Football’ analyst

One mistake haunts Booger McFarland more than the others from his highly scrutinized two-year stint as a “Monday Night Football” analyst.

No, it’s not riding in the Booger Mobile.

Like a rookie coming from college to the NFL, McFarland struggled with the “speed of the game” when he made the big leap from local radio co-host and SEC Network analyst to appearing in front of a national television audience.

In last season’s Houston Texans-Buffalo Bills playoff game, McFarland suggested before a third-down play that the Bills should run and then spike the ball to conserve time and set up a field goal.

The strategic problem? It would have been a fourth-down spike and a change of possession, as likely every fan watching the game started immediately screaming at the television.

“It’s one of those things where I talked about the speed of the game in the broadcast booth,” McFarland told The Athletic. “I couldn’t see the down-and-distance mark and I was relying on the monitor and when I glanced at the monitor, the down and distance had not changed. So I assumed that it was still in the previous down, which would have given me an opportunity to do what I wanted to do: Run the draw on second down, spike it on third down and make the field goal on fourth down.”

ESPN is overhauling its broadcast booth but has not yet settled on a team. McFarland previously told The Post’s Andrew Marchand that he has a couple of years left on his ESPN contract and “isn’t going anywhere.” Marchand reported that ESPN plans to move him into a prominent studio role.

McFarland’s advice to his replacement – the fourth Monday Night Football color commentator in four years – is to be ready for criticism. McFarland told The Athletic he re-watched every broadcast and had 3-5 regrets, which might seem low to his loyal listeners.

“You live and you learn,” he said. “If I had that [Texans-Bills] one to do over, I’d wait a beat and the down and distance would change on the screen. I wish I had that one to do over. But I don’t. You live and you learn.”