Earlier this week, ESPN was caught in a scandal after the network admitted to submitting fake names for Emmy Awards and then re-engraving real names on the trophies to give to on-air talent who were ineligible for awards. The scandal impacted College GameDay stars Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard and Samantha Ponder, all of whom lost the Emmy statuettes they were improperly given – unbeknownst to them. This week, Howard opened up a little bit about how that whole process went down and slammed everybody involved for the way Corso was treated.
During a recent appearance on Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Howard detailed the process of learning about the scandal and that his Emmy statuette had to be returned, expressing his frustration with the situation.
“So, I get a phone call from an exec, and they’re saying that there’s some type of rule with the Sports Emmys or what have you, that the talent isn’t supposed to get Emmys,” Howard explained. “Now, this is the first I’ve ever heard of this. It made zero sense. Like, who should get it then? You know what I mean? The show is not the show without the on-air talent.”
“What f*cked me up… was my man said we got somebody at Corso’s house getting his right now”
As we were sitting with @DesmondHoward the news broke of the @CollegeGameDay talent literally getting their sports Emmy’s taken from their homes. Most don’t know that when a show wins a… pic.twitter.com/Oiyq3UvsHc
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) January 13, 2024
When Howard was first told he would be contacted by someone who would come to his house and collect the Emmys from him, he said he was “defiant,” saying “we earned that s***,” but his tone shifted radically when he was told that Corso, who is currently 88 years old, was also having his Emmy statuettes taken from him.
“What really, I’m gonna tell you all, f***ed me up, is that my man said ‘We got someone at Corso’s house getting his right now,” Howard said. “They’re taking that old man’s Emmy’s? If they’re going to take his, you can have all of mine. I’ll break these damn things. You’re going to take that man’s Emmy’s? I said ‘How could y’all even let this happen to him?’ I was f***ed up over that. I’ll break all of them. Take ’em in pieces. That’s how much they mean to me.”
That, more than losing his own awards, caused Howard to become disenchanted with the value of the awards.
“Bitter taste in my mouth about that whole situation, I ain’t going to lie,” Howard said. “Because I love Corso, and they took his. They should be ashamed of them damn selves.”
About Kevin Harrish