ESPN’s notable “first in draft history!” was…the first selection of a player named Lemieux

Day three of the NFL Draft often sees some stretches on the broadcast, with 2020’s examples including “COVID-19, what if your quarterback gets the virus?” and “Kirk Cousins, in the Hall of Fame of cashing in.” Another strange one came when ESPN/NFL Network broadcast host Trey Wingo got very excited about a “first in draft history,” which proved to be just the first selection of a player with the last name Lemieux (Oregon guard Shane Lemieux):

“Gentlemen, we have a first in draft history! Shane Lemieux is off the board to the Giants. He’s the first Lemieux ever drafted in the common draft era, going back to 1967. Now, Daniel Jeremiah, tell us more important things.”

That sure seems like a stretch for a “first in draft history,” even with Wingo sort of laughing at it and going with the “tell us more important things” to close it out. Yes, there are quite a few people named Lemieux, including former NHL players Mario, Claude and Jocelyn (the latter two are brothers, but not related to Mario). But there are a whole lot of last names who have never seen a player with that name drafted into the NFL. So this feels like a reach. But on Day three, there are plenty of those.

[Clippit]