Fox aired the Shepmates' reenactment of Gus Johnson's controversial Indiana-Penn State call during Saturday's broadcast. Credit: Fox Sports
By Sam Neumann on

Gus Johnson has seen the parodies. He’s heard the criticism. And on Saturday during Fox’s Michigan-Northwestern broadcast, he offered something close to an apology for the call that broke the internet a week earlier.

“I was so excited, I lost my stuff,” Johnson said. “Apologies if I went too far and irritated people.”

The mea culpa came after Fox aired footage of the Shepmates — a comedy duo known for recreating famous sports moments — performing their version of Johnson’s call on Omar Cooper Jr.’s game-winning touchdown catch against Penn State.

Johnson and broadcast partner, Joel Klatt, were in tears watching it.

“When I saw that this week, I was in tears,” Johnson said through laughter. “I was laughing so hard.”

“Shepmates, those guys are hilarious,” Klatt added while wiping away a tear. “Well done, boys.”

The original call from Nov. 8 became an instant flashpoint. With Indiana trailing 24-20 and under two minutes remaining at Penn State, Fernando Mendoza drove the Hoosiers 80 yards in 111 seconds without timeouts. He found Cooper for a toe-tap touchdown in the back corner of the end zone that kept Indiana undefeated.

Johnson’s voice cracked mid-call — he’d been battling a cold — and stayed in a raspy falsetto through the rest of the sequence. What should’ve been an excitable touchdown call turned into something that sounded like Johnson was being strangled while simultaneously ascending to another plane of existence.

Johnson’s been doing this long enough to know the deal. Fox doesn’t pay him to sound like everyone else. His brand is maximum energy during maximum moments, and you don’t hire Gus Johnson for restraint. The network wants him to lose his mind when chaos erupts, even if that means occasionally crossing into territory that makes people uncomfortable.

Johnson’s always been polarizing. Fans either love his enthusiasm or find it grating. There’s rarely middle ground.

At least he can laugh about it now. And if Fox is airing Shepmates parodies during his broadcasts, the network clearly isn’t too concerned about the fallout. They know what they’re getting with Johnson, and so does he. Some calls will be legendary. Some will be laughable. Occasionally, like last week at Penn State, they’ll be both.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann