College football is underway for the season, and with it comes the first apology for a badly-timed comment on a live broadcast. Desmond Howard of ESPN’s College GameDay was the first to make a mistake, and social media was quickly filled with videos of his comment. In response, Howard had to issue an apology to those that may have been offended by his comment.
A Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver during his time with the University of Michigan, Howard was asked on Saturday morning if the Wolverines could push toward the College Football Playoff in 2019. Howard responded with a joke that referenced the Chappelle Show, but it was met with mixed reactions.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The full NSFW answer can be viewed below.
Desmond Howard just channeled Wayne Brady on College Gameday😂 pic.twitter.com/7gMAaK18S9
— Brian J. Haddad (@BrianJHaddad) August 24, 2019
“Earlier today in the show, I’m a big Wayne Brady fan and I made a comment that was supposed to be taken as a joke,” Howard said. “If I offended anybody, I apologize. We can move on with the show.”
The joke in question references a skit on the Chappelle Show in which comedian Dave Chappelle was driving around with Wayne Brady. The man who found fame with Let’s Make a Deal and Whose Line is it Anyway is a household name, but this skit showed him as a pimp and a murderer. The original line was “is Wayne Brady going to have to choke a b—?”
Howard did ultimately provide his thoughts on Michigan potentially making a trip to the College Football Playoffs. As someone that shined for the Wolverines, it was expected that Howard might let his fandom shine through, but that was certainly not the case.
“At this point, you have to wait and see,” Howard said. “On paper, they should beat Ohio State, you would think, especially with a new coach Ryan Day and the quarterback Justin Fields, but obviously it’s Ohio State. It’s the rivalry this time, even if he wins that game, they’re going to say ‘but you didn’t beat Urban Meyer.’ On paper, it seems like this should be the year they’re going to beat Ohio State.”
Interestingly enough, Howard is not the only host on College GameDay that has been caught swearing during a national broadcast. Lee Corso, who originally started with the show in 1987, was once caught on camera saying “ah, f— it,” during a segment.
Ultimately, his joke likely won’t be met with discipline considering that it was fairly tame overall. Howard would simply prefer that more people search out the clip. He was shocked that this joke was “obscure.”
