The downward spiral of ESPN’s College GameDay reached a new low on Saturday as the show set up shop in Ann Arbor for Michigan-Ohio State.
ESPN national college football reporter Pete Thamel, who is also a fixture on the weekly show, was forced to do his live shots on the broadcast from inside Michigan Stadium — a departure from his more typical segments surrounded by fans off to the side of the main GameDay set.
The reason for this change, according to GameDay host Rece Davis on the broadcast, was due to threats Thamel has received from Michigan fans due to his reporting on the Wolverine’s sign-stealing scandal.
It goes without saying that threats against any reporter for simply doing their job are extremely abhorrent and there can be no tolerance whatsoever. It appears ESPN erred on the side of caution by placing Thamel far away from the throngs of Michigan fans so he could continue to do his job safely.
GameDay’s Desmond Howard — a Michigan alum — decided to poke fun at the decision to move Thamel’s live shot and mocked his colleague’s supposed cowardice in a truly off-the-rails moment on Saturday.
Desmond Howard discussed Pete Thamel not being in the crowd. "I'm like, 'What the hell is Pete in the stadium for?' …Put your big boy pants on and do it in the crowd like you have been." Rece Davis then said "He's got, from the lunatic fringe, some threats." pic.twitter.com/yzWmeSK822
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 25, 2023
Davis tried to explain the seriousness of the situation by noting Thamel’s “got, from the lunatic fringe, some threats” only for Howard to wave him off.
“These guys are nice fans,” Howard said gesturing to the crowd. “They’re not going to do anything.”
Davis then wisely reminded Howard it only takes one, but the whole interaction was gross.
It was a microcosm of how far GameDay has fallen. Before Howard could even get his mic turned on to criticize Thamel, Pat McAfee played to a crowd predisposed to dislike Thamel’s work by shouting “Pete Thamel doesn’t want you to talk!”
Even worse, Kirk Herbstreit was audibly agreeing with Howard calling out Thamel for a situation far beyond the reporter’s control.
Instead of supporting Thamel (their coworker!) by trying to calm down the rhetoric and hatred here, the most vocal and visible Ohio State and Michigan alums continued to fan the flames.
