Gus Johnson Joel Klatt

Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt was a star quarterback at Colorado long before he became a TV commentator, but Klatt has usually seemed to do a good job of keeping homerism out of his TV work. That’s why it was so surprising to hear Fox play-by-play man Gus Johnson ribbing Klatt for using a “we” during their Colorado – Washington State broadcast Saturday, especially as there doesn’t appear to be a”we” from Klatt in this clip:

The clip starts with Klatt talking about four-star recruit Jake Moretti (who plays for Klatt’s old high school, Pomona High School in Arvada, CO) switching his commitment to Colorado from Ohio State, and saying “They were very excited about that here. He’s the top recruit in the state. They’ve got a few kids out of Texas, from DeSoto…” and then Johnson interrupts with “Ah, that’s the first time you’ve said we the whole game. You’ve been doing such a great job.” Klatt says “We’re going to have to check the tape” and Johnson laughs but then says “You did.”

Did Klatt drop a “we” earlier before this clip and Johnson just delayed his response? Or did Johnson just hear wrong and mistake “they” as “we”? Either way, it led to an awkward broadcasting moment, especially with Johnson doubling down after Klatt disputed his account. It’s not a big deal, especially as Johnson appeared to only be going for some light ribbing here, but you want to make sure you’re ribbing correctly. The rest of the game broadcast was fine, but this was certainly an unusual moment, and a slightly uncomfortable one for viewers. It certainly made for less fun than the Fox studio crew’s antics Saturday:

[Ben Koo on Clippit]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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