ESPN’s Elle Duncan has been at the center of controversy over the past few days after making a number of jokes about recently released quarterback Daniel Jones. But even with some fans taking some low blows at her, she remains adamant that her voice will always be heard.
For the uninitiated, Duncan discussed the Giants releasing Jones last week in a recurring SportsCenter segment called “Taking the Elle”, a segment where Duncan makes fun of particular topics around sports.
You can see where this is going… Duncan joked about a speech that Jones gave the day before he was released that essentially served as his farewell speech to the organization before being cut.
“You guys think he had this saved in his notes since like 2020?” Duncan asked. “In all seriousness, DJ, I could have saved you like 90 seconds. A rewrite: I’m sorry you paid me $108 million for one playoff win. And I look forward to reviving my career as Brock Purdy’s backup. The end.”
ESPN’s Elle Duncan on Daniel Jones’ farewell to Giants fans: “You guys think he had this saved in his notes since like 2020? In all seriousness, DJ, I could have saved you like 90 seconds. A rewrite: I’m sorry you paid me $108 million for one playoff win. And I look forward to… pic.twitter.com/CF8Ix8M9M9
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 22, 2024
This led to a firestorm of criticism towards Duncan, perhaps most notably from Giants VP of Communications Pat Hanlon, who called her attempt at a joke “mind-boggling”.
“That an ESPN personality would mock Daniel Jones’ statement today is mind-boggling,” wrote Hanlon in a post on X. “Given what has happened at that company over the past few years, tone deaf.”
That an #ESPN personality would mock Daniel Jones’ statement today is mind boggling. Given what has happened at that company over past few years, tone deaf.
— pat hanlon (@giantspathanlon) November 22, 2024
Duncan has since defended herself from Hanlon’s comments on First Take. But far more people on social media, particularly much of the Giants fanbase, have taken things to a whole different level by firing personal attacks at Duncan about her career in sports media.
She addressed these lesser-known critics on her podcast, The Elle Duncan Show, on Tuesday, detailing how she is “never going to stop speaking her mind” regardless of the comments coming back her way.
“If you want to critique the timing of it, if you felt that it was a low blow, a cheap shot, that is totally fine. But the second your critique starts with, ‘You DEI hire,’ you’re canceled in my mind,” Duncan said. “Your opinion is rendered irrelevant. The second you ask me, ‘Would you have said this about a Black quarterback?’ you are non contender to me. I don’t hear you or receive you, period.
“I’m never going to stop speaking my mind, and you can keep beating your head against the wall as much as you want. You’re not ever going to shut me the f*** up because I am paid to give my opinion in sports. It’s quite literally my job. It is not yours. Your job is to lay and wait for me to do something that you think gives leverage to open up my mentions to some of the worst people in the world, and that’s okay with me because what I do with social media is take my phone, I’d see ‘DEI hire, get your Black (expletive) back in the kitchen,’ and I just put my phone back down. You don’t exist to me, so you can keep doing this and keep trying to get me to shut up, but I’m never going to.”
As Duncan admitted herself, it is fair to critique the timing of the joke considering it optically was kicking a man while he’s down. But every athlete opens themselves up to these kinds of jokes anytime they take the field.
It’s also not like Duncan is the only one who has been critiquing Jones all these years while he was struggling in New York. And given the fact that the joke was said during a segment used specifically for jokes, perhaps Duncan deserves a little more leeway than she is currently getting.
Regardless, it doesn’t sound like Duncan is all that bothered by the critics, whether they are being respectful in their criticisms or not.
