Rece Davis gets blasted over arguing why Dwayne Haskins wasn't interviewed with Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa
It may be Week 15 of the college football season, but that doesn’t mean that ESPN’s College GameDay doesn’t have anything to do.
As per usual, the crew held its show as Army takes on Navy Saturday and picks were made at the end of the show for bowl games in the weeks ahead. Parts of the show this time of year don’t always deal with matchups, though, part of it talks about the rewards to be handed out.
One award that gets plenty of attention is the Heisman Trophy. On Saturday’s College GameDay especially, the Heisman discussion was amped up, as the winner is being announced at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
During its show, College GameDay had an interview with 2 of the 3 finalists — Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa and Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray. One finalist was missing, though: Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins.
Sports Betting in Big Ten Country
Ohio sports betting apps are officially launching on January 1, 2023.
Pre-registration is now available at FanDuel Ohio for an extra $100 bonus. Go pre-register now.
21+ and present in OH. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Where was Haskins?
We’re not exactly sure. However, it seemed at the time that Haskins was being a bit slighted. It did seem quite odd that Haskins wasn’t with the other candidates.
Later in the show, though, Haskins was interviewed by himself.
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit made a comment about Brian Hartline being named as the full-time WRs coach at Ohio State on Twitter Saturday afternoon. No biggie. One of the comments, however, got some attention:
Diehard OU fan here and I, too, think it was kinda rude and a slight. Haskins knows he is not winning, but he earned the trip and the Heisman folks invited him. He should be treated the same as other finalists.
— Lance Norris (@SoonerManInAZ) December 8, 2018
Herbstreit responded:
Very fair and true statement. Again, I have no idea why he wasn’t on with them. Wish he was. Not my call. But your statement is 100% accurate. https://t.co/e6n88C3t5Y
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) December 8, 2018
Herbstreit understood where the comment was coming from. The whole thing didn’t make much sense. ESPN’s Rece Davis also decided to respond to the controversy:
Let me take a swing. It’s not intended as a slight. I’ll bet if you time the words, Dwayne got more coverage. Plus, 3 at same time is an unwieldy interview. Two is max. They are playing each other. They’re likely 1-2. Simple as that. Never cease to marvel at what bothers people https://t.co/76LN9KHStW
— Rece Davis (@ESPN_ReceDavis) December 8, 2018
Davis didn’t get the whole uproar. He even seemed to defend the fact that Haskins wasn’t interviewed with the other two by saying that “Dwayne got more coverage.” This, of course, angered people:
Swing and a miss.
— Matt Klingler (@Klingler_Matt) December 8, 2018
Wish you got left out for Chris Fowler the last several years 😂🤷🏼♂️
— Douglas DiLillo (@DouglasDiLillo) December 8, 2018
ThReE is UnWIELdY pic.twitter.com/VdrVXWQZkq
— Nicholas Shook (@TheShookster) December 8, 2018
rece….. you cannot be serious, right? haskins has definitely been treated with disrespect all week…. and really even further back. it has been touted as a "two person race" all along and that has been the narrative you and your fellow media members have pushed. #behonest
— Mark (@buckmark1) December 8, 2018
Just call it like it is … you all just want to push your agenda. Leaving out the fact that Haskins deserves the heisman as much as the other two. It’s shameful and the most blatant depiction of your network’s agenda. Hopefully it impacts viewers. I won’t be one. pic.twitter.com/zSQ5zaLooM
— OSU Buckeye (@OSUBuckitilidie) December 8, 2018
The last sentence is amazing 😂. Sheds some light on how dismissive the attitude is about Haskins.
— Chuck Schick (@BuckeyeFanFrank) December 8, 2018
Rece, that is the biggest amount of bs I have heard in a while. I studied journalism and can see right through your spin. Nice try.
— M Bodell (@BodellMelissa) December 8, 2018