Play-by-play man Dave LaMont has found himself in a tough situation after forgetting to press mute on a conference call. ESPN held a two hour conference call on race in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. A number of staffers shared their thoughts and experiences.
While Maria Taylor was speaking, LaMont could be heard in the background describing the call as “venting.” Andrew Marchand of The New York Post reports that other participants on the call were shocked. Taylor herself even said that LaMont’s job could be in jeopardy if he did not stop.
Such a reaction suggests that LaMont might have gone further than simply saying that the speakers on the call were venting. However, no further details were offered in Marchand’s story.
“A comment was made to my wife that was overheard on the college football call, offending some who heard it,” LaMont said in a statement to Marchand. “We have a racially integrated home and I respect and admire those who spoke up about their experiences. I profusely apologize to everyone on the call.”
As for his status with the network, LaMont says he is still employed as far as he knows. Marchand says he reached out to Josh Krulewitz, ESPN’s VP of Communications, who would not acknowledge whether or not that was true on multiple calls.
LaMont’s racially integrated home includes Tedarrell Slaton. The defensive lineman at the University of Florida is Black and lived with LaMont’s family during high school. While the LaMonts never formally adopted Slanton, Slanton does have a tattoo acknowledging the family as his own.
For his story, Andrew Marchand spoke to ten people that were either on the June 9 conference call or were briefed on it. He says his sources described LaMont’s unintended interruption of Maria Taylor as “shocking” and “uncomfortable.”
ESPN senior VP Lee Fitting described the events “unacceptable” in an email to everyone that participated on the call.
Dave LaMont has called a variety of sports for ESPN, ESPN Radio and ABC. He has been with the company for 16 years.
