Football announcer suspended for border reference during game
Maryland wide receiver Dontay Demus Jr., left, fights for yardage after a catch as North Carolina State safety Sean Brown holds on during the first half of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl NCAA college football game in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
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(NewsNation) — A play-by-play announcer was suspended indefinitely Friday for making a reference to “illegal aliens” while calling a college football bowl game.
The N.C. State radio broadcaster, Gary Hahn, is an employee of Learfield Communications, which confirmed the suspension to the News and Observer newspaper.
“Learfield has suspended Wolfpack Sports Network play-by-play announcer Gary Hahn from his agreement indefinitely following comments made during today’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl radio broadcast,” Wolfpack Sports Properties general manager Kyle Winchester said in a statement, the News and Observer reported.
Hahn was calling the Duke’s Mayo Ball between N.C. State and Maryland when he made the reference while giving the score of another bowl game in El Paso, Texas.
“Down among all the illegal aliens in El Paso it’s UCLA 14 and Pittsburgh 6,” Hahn said, reporting the score of the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
El Paso has been hit hard by the influx of migrants coming across the southern border over the past two years, and the News and Observer reported the city’s convention center has been closed to house the migrants. As a result, N.C. State’s annual fan fest was canceled.
Hahn has been the voice of football and men’s basketball at N.C. State since 1991.