ESPN reporter David Hale annoyed after ESPN2 broadcasters incorrectly lift anecdote from Haynes King profile

The legend of Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King seems to grow each week as the Yellow Jackets keep winning.

Tech came into Saturday’s game with an undefeated record and a Top Ten ranking, so all eyes are on the quarterback, who is attempting to lead them to not only an ACC title but also a spot in the College Football Playoff.

During Saturday’s game against the NC State Wolfpack, ESPN2 sideline reporter Taylor Davis discussed some pertinent context from King’s childhood that informs how he plays now.

“You often hear Haynes King and toughness as synonyms these days, right? How’s this for toughness?” she started. “When he was a child, it was Christmas, he was roughhousing with his cousin. His left hand got stuck under a treadmill belt. He was rushed to the ER. He was on track to be a left-handed quarterback. His dad, who’s a coach, was a little disappointed in it, but he had to learn how to throw right-handed. Said he was in the backyard working on it the next week. I said, ‘Did it hurt?’ He said, ‘Heck yeah, it hurt, but I needed to figure out how to overcome it.’ I asked him if he was ambidextrous. He said, In certain things, but you probably won’t see it on the football field.

“Taylor, last year, he had a torn right labrum, which limited him throwing the football. At that point, he thought about going back lefty,” added announcer Matt Schumacker.

“How great is that? So everything he did as a kid was lefty. Then he gets his arm caught in his treadmill and says, You know what? I’m going to become a right-handed quarterback, and now you still see him throw right, which is so impressive,” said color commentator Sam Acho. “So the stories of Haynes King, those things are real. The legend continues.”

Story with @ADavidHaleJoint on East Texas legend Haynes King, from Longview to Texas A&M to finding his mojo at Georgia Tech, on the tall tales behind the toughest player in college football.https://t.co/rLcoaTWpg4

— Dave Wilson (@dwil) October 29, 2025

Altogether, it makes a great anecdote. However, ESPN reporter David Hale, who covers the ACC, wasn’t too impressed with its telling. A few minutes later, he chimed in on social media, annoyed that the story had not only been lifted from a profile he and Dave Wilson wrote earlier in the week, but that it wasn’t correct.

If TV folks were gonna rip off info from a story me and @dwil wrote they should at least get it right. Haynes was 4 when he learned to throw left handed because one of his dad’s players — future Gator Tate Carney — taught him how to without even knowing he was lefthanded.

— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) November 2, 2025

“If TV folks were gonna rip off info from a story me and [Dave Wilson] wrote they should at least get it right,” Hale wrote on X, the everything app. “Haynes was 4 when he learned to throw left handed because one of his dad’s players — future Gator Tate Carney — taught him how to without even knowing he was lefthanded.”

In Hale and Wilson’s profile, they offer further context on how Florida Gators star Tate Carney played a role in this story.

“Tate Casey, best known as the tight end who caught Tim Tebow’s famous jump-pass against LSU in 2006, had also been a prized baseball prospect,” they wrote. “King wanted Casey to teach him how to throw. The only problem was that his left hand was still bandaged and bruised. No matter. King figured he would throw right-handed, just like Casey.”

That aspect was omitted from the ESPN2 broadcast version about King’s right-handedness.

ESPN developed a reputation over the years for failing to credit reporters from other outlets. However, not crediting their own reporters is a next-level move. Perhaps the broadcast will remedy that situation later in the game, and hopefully it was an honest gaffe. Regardless, it’s never a good look not to credit the reporters who break a story.

If for no other reason than that they never, ever forget.

ESPN not attributing info they took from .. ESPN 🤌🏻 https://t.co/etTFyC4l8s

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 2, 2025