ESPN explains awkward moment between Molly Qerim and JJ Watt

JJ Watt experienced an awkward moment when he was a guest on ESPN’s “First Take” earlier this week, and the network has offered an explanation for the strange blunder.

During Watt’s Wednesday appearance on “First Take,” host Molly Qerim noted that the former Defensive Player of the Year has a lot of new projects lined up. The first one Qerim listed seemed like major breaking news, which was that Watt will be the new co-host of “The Pat McAfee Show.” Stephen A. Smith broke into applause and congratulated Watt on the big new gig.

The problem is Watt had no idea what Qerim was talking about. He played it off well and said “that would be great,” but he was clearly confused.

Molly Qerim announced on Wednesday's First Take that guest J.J. Watt would be the new co-host of the Pat McAfee show.

That was news to J.J. pic.twitter.com/MeB2G1T7is

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 5, 2023

Many speculated that Qerim was sharing major media news that was not supposed to be made public. However, ESPN told Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post that a month-old clip from “The Pat McAfee Show” was misinterpreted and led to Qerim believing Watt was slated to become McAfee’s co-host.

Watt retired after the 2022 season, which was his 12th in the NFL. He is widely expected to land a media gig at some point, though he and his wife recently announced another big piece of sports news.

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