Joe Tessitore receives strong backlash after comments about Matt Corral
Joe Tessitore made comments on the ESPN broadcast during the Sugar Bowl matchup between Ole Miss and Baylor that drew the ire of fans. Tessitore weighed in on Matt Corral’s decision to play in the New Year’s Day bowl game even though he’s projected to be an early-round draft pick in this spring’s NFL Draft.
“I know there’s been a lot of people railing on college football this year,” Tessitore said. “The transfer portal, and NILs, and the changing landscape, and are these postseason games really meaningful outside of the Playoff. Matt Corral is all you need to know. He’s doing it the right way, he cares about it the right way.”
That ignited a serious debate on social media between fans in favor of the opt out decision, and other fans and media like Tessitore, who believe that players should opt in to playing the bowl game.
Here’s a sampling of the reaction:
This is the Joe Tess clip that I find pretty objectionable. Bad day for ESPN I must say. https://t.co/jKNVUeGFNo
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) January 2, 2022
One of the worst trends in broadcasting is the PBP guy thinking he is the analyst.
— Erick Smith (@ericksmith) January 2, 2022
He went by it the “right way.” The only way.
Im with you Dan. This was pretty gross!!
— Devo (@DevoPro) January 2, 2022
I’m on the side of “players should play all the games and not make arbitrary decisions for money” BUT trying to make that case while talking about a kid that got injured seems pretty silly.
— A Clark (@CommanderClark8) January 2, 2022
Joe Tess is flea market Gus Johnson. Has a great voice for PBP but just yells nonsense most of the time https://t.co/LnOtCtQrAO
— D (@suckatsports) January 2, 2022
So to recap: transfer portal bad, NIL bad…potentially ruinous injuries in meaningless games good.
Get bent, Joe Tess. https://t.co/l12llXEsi9
— Andy Tulin (Taylor’s Version) (@AndyTulin) January 2, 2022
Joe Tess is dramatizing tf out of this Corral injury😂
— One Team, One Podcast (@OneTeamOnePod) January 2, 2022